Word.ws English Dictionary

orris

/ˈɒɹɪs/

orris noun: any of several irises that have a fragrant root, especially Iris × germanica.

Noun (1)

orris (countable and uncountable, plural orrises)

  1. Any of several irises that have a fragrant root, especially Iris × germanica.
  2. The fragrant root of such an iris.
    • Drop twelve drops of genuine oil of rhodium on a lump of loaf-sugar ; grind this wel in a glass mortar, and mix it thoroughly with three pounds of orris powder.1826, Samuel Adams, Sarah Adams, The Complete Servant, page 169
    • Orris is the part of the florentine iris you don′t see — the rhizome. […] The ancient Egyptians and Greeks learned that the bland-smelling orris root would take on a remarkable fragrance if dried for at least two years.1998, Claire Kowalchik, William H. Hylton, Orris, entry in Rodale′s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs, page 406

Noun (2)

orris (countable and uncountable, plural orrises)

  1. (historical) A type of gold or silver coloured lace.
    Synonyms:
    orris lace
  2. (historical) A pattern in which gold lace or silver lace is worked, especially one in which the edges are ornamented with conical figures placed at equal distances, with spots between them.
    Synonyms:
    orris pattern

Proper noun capitalized: Orris

Orris (plural Orrises)

  1. A surname transferred from the given name.

Synonyms of orris

  • orris lace
  • orris pattern

Forms of orris

Noun
pluralorrises
Proper noun
pluralOrrises

Origin of orris

Probably from iris, although the alteration of the vowel is unexplained.

Contracted from orphrey, or from arras.

English surname from a vernacular form of the personal name Horace.

Words formed from orris

Phrases with orris

Questions about orris

What does orris mean?
Orris means any of several irises that have a fragrant root, especially Iris × germanica.
What part of speech is orris?
Orris can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce orris?
Orris is pronounced /ˈɒɹɪs/.
What is the plural of orris?
The plural of orris is orrises.

Words near orris in the dictionary

  1. Orrin
  2. orring
  3. orringe
  4. orringes
  5. Orrington
  6. orris
  7. orris pea
  8. orris peas
  9. orrises
  10. Orrison
  11. Orrisons

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: orris (page history and authors); Orris (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.

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Cite this entry: “orris.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/orris. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.