myrtle

plural myrtles

1. An evergreen shrub or small tree of the genus Myrtus, native to southern Europe and north Africa.

   In the Middle Ages pulverized myrtle leaves were applied to the body as a sexual stimulation.

   1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 162

2. A small tree or tall shrub, Cyrilla racemiflora, native to temperate and tropical regions of the Americas.
3. AustraliaA tall evergreen Australian tree, Nothofagus cunninghamii, native to Victoria and Tasmania.

   [W]here the gullies are fringed with blackwoods, wattle, myrtles, musks and sassafras[.]

   1951, Ambrose Pratt, The Lore of the Lyrebird, Melbourne: Robertson and Mullens, page 58

4. A dark green shade that resembles the color of Myrtus leaves.

1. A female given name from English.

   Myrtle Hazard Lindsay walked up to the bust, and kissed its marble forehead, saying, "This is the face of my Guardian Angel!"

   1867, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr, chapter XXXIV, in The Guardian Angel

   1 more example

   "My husband used to say that girls with flower names fade fast." It was Myrtle who said this one day, out of the blue, and for some reason it made them all go weak with laughter.

   1993, Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries, page 318