sorrel
/'sɔrəl/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Of a light brownish-red color: Describes a color that is a reddish-brown, often similar to the coat of a chestnut horse or the leaves of some sorrel plants.
Noun:
- A horse of a brownish-orange to light brown color: Refers specifically to a horse with a coat of this reddish-brown hue.
- A plant with sour-tasting leaves: Refers to various plants, especially of the genus Rumex, whose leaves are used in salads, sauces, or medicine. These leaves are often arrowhead-shaped.
- A plant of the genus Oxalis: Refers to a different group of plants, often called wood sorrel, which have trifoliate leaves and a sour taste due to oxalic acid.
- An East Indian herb (Hibiscus sabdariffa): Refers to a plant cultivated for its fleshy red calyxes, used in foods like jellies and teas (also known as roselle), and for its fiber.
Usage Examples
Adjective:
- She painted the room a warm sorrel color.
- The artist mixed paints to achieve the perfect sorrel shade for the autumn leaves.
Noun (Horse):
- The farmer's favorite horse was a sturdy sorrel.
- They breed both bays and sorrels at this stable.
Noun (Plant - Rumex):
- I added some fresh sorrel to the soup for a tangy flavor.
- Common sorrel grows wild in many fields.
Noun (Plant - Oxalis):
- The garden was covered in a carpet of yellow-flowered sorrel.
- Wood sorrel is sometimes mistaken for clover.
Noun (Plant - Roselle):
- Sorrel drink, made from the calyces of the hibiscus plant, is popular in the Caribbean.
Advanced Usage
- As a color descriptor in specialized fields: The term "sorrel" is a precise color name used in animal husbandry (especially for horses and cattle), botany, and sometimes in textiles or design.
- The breed standard specifies that a "chestnut" coat is called "sorrel" in some registries.
Variants and Related Words
- Sorrel tree (Oxydendrum arboreum): A North American tree, also called sourwood, unrelated to the herbaceous sorrel plants.
- Sheep's sorrel (Rumex acetosella): A common weedy species of sorrel.
- Red sorrel: Another name for sheep's sorrel or sometimes for roselle ().
Synonyms
- Adjective (Color): Chestnut, reddish-brown, bay (in specific equine contexts).
- Noun (Plant - Rumex): Dock, sour grass.
- Noun (Plant - Oxalis): Wood sorrel, shamrock (for some species).
Related Phrases/Idioms
- None common: The word "sorrel" itself does not typically form standard English idioms or phrasal verbs. It is primarily used in its literal senses.
Adjective
- of a light brownish color
Noun
- a horse of a brownish orange to light brown color
- large sour-tasting arrowhead-shaped leaves used in salads and sauces
- East Indian sparsely prickly annual herb or perennial subshrub widely cultivated for its fleshy calyxes used in tarts and jelly and for its bast fiber
- any of certain coarse weedy plants with long taproots, sometimes used as table greens or in folk medicine
- any plant or flower of the genus Oxalis