Etymology

violet

vi·o·let
V4I1O1L1E1T1

Today it means: A plant or flower of the genus Viola, especially the fragrant Viola odorata; (inexact) similar-looking plants and flowers. Full definition →

Middle English violet ← Old French violette ← Latin viola
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violet · noun, adjective1

  1. Latinviola
  2. Old Frenchviolette
  3. Middle Englishviolet
  4. English todayviolet

Inherited from Middle English violet, vyolet, vyolette, from Old French violette, from Latin viola (“violet”) + -ette. Cognate with Lithuanian violetinė (“purple, violet”) and Spanish violeta (“purple, violet”).

Violet · proper noun2

  1. French · derived fromViolette
  2. English todayViolet

A 19th century flower name from violet, sometimes as an anglicisation of the earlier French Violette.

Words from the same roots

Latinviola all →

violaviolescent

FrenchViolette all →

Violette

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.