mullein
/ˈmʌlɪn/
mullein noun: any of a few hundred species of European and Asian plants, of the genus Verbascum, especially that majority that have yellow flowers.
Noun
mullein (usually uncountable, plural mulleins)
- Any of a few hundred species of European and Asian plants, of the genus Verbascum, especially that majority that have yellow flowers.
- There be foure ſortes of Mulleyne, as [Pedanius] Dioſcorides writeth: wherof yͤ two firſt are white Mulleyne, and of them one is Male, and the other female: The third is blacke Mulleyne: The fourth is wilde Mulleyne. […] The white male Mulleyn (or rather Wolleyn) hath […] the whole top with his...1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of Mulleyne⸝ or Hyg[h]taper”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London: […] [Henry [i.e., Hendrik van der] Loë for] Gerard Dewes, […]...
- As we all know, witches ride through the air on a broom, but sometimes their means of locomotion was a bulrush, a branch of thorn, mullein stalks, cornstalk, or ragweed, called fairies' horse in Ireland.1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 267
- Synonyms:
- Aaron's rod, cow's lungwort, feltwort, flannel leaf, velvet plant
mullein meaning in Tamil and Arabic
mullein in Tamil
- நமது பூமியில் காணப்படும், தாவரங்களில் ஒன்றாகும்
mullein in Arabic
- plants of the genus Verbascum
- بُوصِير būṣīr
Synonyms of mullein
- Aaron's rod
- cow's lungwort
- feltwort
- flannel leaf
- velvet plant
Forms of mullein
| plural | mulleins |
|---|---|
| alternative form | mullen |
Origin of mullein
From Middle English moleyne, from Anglo-Norman moleine, which is either a Celtic borrowing and derived from Proto-Celtic *melinos (“yellow”) from *meli (“honey”) – an adjective found in Breton melen (“yellow”) and Welsh melyn (“yellow”) – or from mol (“soft”), from Latin mollis (“soft”), referencing the plant's fluffy, downy leaves, also apparent in synonyms such as feltwort, flannel leaf, and velvet plant.
Words formed from mullein
- common mullein
- Cretan mullein
- dark mullein
- great mullein
- hoary mullein
- moth mullein
- mullein foxglove
- mullein pink
- mullein wave
- nettle-leaved mullein
- orange mullein
- petty mullein
- purple mullein
- sage mullein
- sageleaf mullein
- showy mullein
- turkey mullein
- twiggy mullein
- wand mullein
- wavyleaf mullein Verbascum sinuatum)
- white mullein
- woolly mullein
Questions about mullein
- What does mullein mean?
- Mullein means any of a few hundred species of European and Asian plants, of the genus Verbascum, especially that majority that have yellow flowers.
- What is mullein in Tamil?
- Mullein in Tamil is நமது பூமியில் காணப்படும், தாவரங்களில் ஒன்றாகும். See Mullein meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is mullein?
- Mullein is a noun.
- How do you pronounce mullein?
- Mullein is pronounced /ˈmʌlɪn/.
- What is the plural of mullein?
- The plural of mullein is mulleins.
Words near mullein in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: mullein (page history and authors); mullein (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mullein.wav.
Cite this entry: “mullein.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mullein. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.