mallow

Definition

Any of a group of flowering plants in several genera of the taxonomic family Malvaceae, especially of the genus Malva. Several species are edible by humans.

Etymology

From Middle English malwe, from Old English mealwe, borrowed from Latin malva. Compare the doublet mauve.

Example Sentences

• "Gonzalo. Had I plantation of this isle, my lord,— Antonio. He’ld sow’t with nettle-seed. Sebastian. Or docks, or mallows."
• "For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste. Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat."
• "Not Heathpout, or the rarer Bird, / Which Phasis, or Ionia yields, / More pleasing Morsels would afford / Than the fat Olives of my Fields; / Than Shards or Mallows for the Pot, / That keep the loosen’d Body sound, / Or than the Lamb that falls by Lot, / To the just Guardian of my Ground."