heliotrope
UK[ˈhiː.li.ə.trəʊp]US[ˈhiː.li.ə.troʊp]
n
A plant that turns its leaves or flowers to face the sun.
n
A light purple or pinkish-purple color, named after the color of some heliotrope flowers.
Morpheme Breakdown
helio
trope
helio
sun
trope
turn
Etymology
The word 'heliotrope' is a direct borrowing from the Greek 'hēliotropion', a compound of 'hēlios' (sun) and 'tropos' (a turn). The term was originally applied to plants, such as the sunflower, whose blossoms were observed to follow the sun's daily path across the sky, a phenomenon known as heliotropism. This literal sense of "sun-turning" was later extended to name a genus of plants with fragrant, purple flowers. Finally, the name of the plant was transferred to denote the characteristic purplish color of its blossoms, completing the word's journey from a descriptive botanical term to a common color name.
Analysis
Structure: helio (sun) + trope (turn)
helio is from Greek 'hēlios', meaning 'sun'. trope is from Greek 'tropos', meaning 'turn' or 'direction'.
Examples
The heliotrope in the garden faithfully tracked the sunlight from dawn until dusk.
She painted the bedroom walls a soft shade of heliotrope.
The perfume was infused with the sweet, cherry-like scent of heliotrope.