Meanings
plural bog myrtles · alternative bog-myrtle
- countableuncountableAn herbal shrub with a strong, sweet resinous smell, Myrica gale, that grows in bogs, moors, fens and other wet, acidic environments.
1 more example
There was nothing of that luxuriance of blossom which had hitherto clothed the wood, for there were no hawthorns; but the bog-myrtle imparted its tender fragrance, and the caressing honeysuckle wound round many an ancient trunk, odours exhaling from every fairy-like tube—fit trumpets for the heralds of Titania.
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 56Synonyms: gale, sweet gale
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn herbal shrub with a strong, sweet resinous smell, Myrica gale, that grows in bogs, moors, fens and other wet, acidic environments.
More synonyms by meaning
nounperennial plant of Europe and America having racemes of white or purplish flowers and intensely bitter trifoliate leaves; often rooting at water margin and spreading across the surface
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From bog + myrtle; plants with small evergreen leaves are often named after the myrtle.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
bog myrtle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bog%20myrtle
“bog myrtle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bog%20myrtle. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bog myrtle,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bog%20myrtle.
Source: bog myrtle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.