woad

• POS: Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

woad, n. [OE. wod, AS. wād; akin to D. weede, G. waid, OHG. weit, Dan. vaid, veid, Sw. veide, L. vitrum.].

•  An herbaceous cruciferous plant (Isatis tinctoria) of the family Cruciferae (syn. Brassicaceae). It was formerly cultivated for the blue coloring matter derived from its leaves. See isatin.  [1913 Webster]
•  A blue dyestuff, or coloring matter, consisting of the powdered and fermented leaves of the Isatis tinctoria. It is now superseded by indigo, but is somewhat used with indigo as a ferment in dyeing.  [1913 Webster]

  "Their bodies . . . painted with woad in sundry figures."  [1913 Webster]

Wild woad (Bot.), the weld (Reseda luteola). See Weld. -- Woad mill, a mill grinding and preparing woad.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

woad, n. hist.
1 a cruciferous plant, Isatis tinctoria, yielding a blue dye now superseded by indigo.
2 the dye obtained from this.

Etymology

OE wad f. Gmc