lotus Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun native to eastern Asia; widely cultivated for its large pink or white flowers
    Indian lotus; Nelumbo nucifera; sacred lotus.
  2. noun annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs
    genus Lotus.
  3. noun white Egyptian lotus: water lily of Egypt to southeastern Africa; held sacred by the Egyptians
    white lotus; Nymphaea lotus; Egyptian water lily; white lily.

WordNet

Lo"tus noun
Etymology
L. lotus, Gr. . Cf. Lote.
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) (a) A name of several kinds of water lilies; as Nelumbium speciosum, used in religious ceremonies, anciently in Egypt, and to this day in Asia; Nelumbium luteum, the American lotus; and Nymphæa Lotus and N. cærulea, the respectively white-flowered and blue-flowered lotus of modern Egypt, which, with Nelumbium speciosum, are figured on its ancient monuments. (b) The lotus of the lotuseaters, probably a tree found in Northern Africa, Sicily, Portugal, and Spain (Zizyphus Lotus), the fruit of which is mildly sweet. It was fabled by the ancients to make strangers who ate of it forget their native country, or lose all desire to return to it. (c) The lote, or nettle tree. See Lote. (d) A genus (Lotus) of leguminous plants much resembling clover. Written also lotos.
  2. (Arch.) An ornament much used in Egyptian architecture, generally asserted to have been suggested by the Egyptian water lily.

Webster 1913