mallow
(ˈmæləʊ)
Forms: 1 mealuwe, malwa, mealwe, mealewe, 1, 5 malwe, 3–5 malue, 4–5 malve, 5 maloo, malewe, 6 mallo, malew, malowe, 6–7 mallowe, 6– mallow.
[OE. mealuwe wk. fem., a. L. malva; prob. related in some way to the synonymous Gr. µαλάχη, µολόχη. Cf. Du. malve, maluwe, G. malve, OF. malve (mod.F. mauve), It., Sp., Pg. malva. Cf. maul n.2, maw.]
1. (Also pl., const. as sing.) A common wild plant, Malva sylvestris (family Malvaceæ), having hairy stems and leaves and deeply-cleft reddish-purple flowers; it is very mucilaginous. Also called common mallow, field mallow, wild mallow. In extended use, any plant of the genus Malva.
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 135/27 Malua, malwe, uel ᵹeormenletic. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 194 Leahtric & mealwan & hænne flæsc. Ibid. 214 Eft wildre mealwan seawes þry lytle bollan fullan. c 1265 Voc. Names Pl. in Wr.-Wülcker 559/3 Malua, malue. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 194 It growiþ to a tree, as done malues in sum contre. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 47 Redde nettel crop and malues grene. c 1450 M E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 151 Tak bausones grece, wylde malwe..& pimpernel. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 72 Dig garden, stroy mallow. 1573–80 Baret Alv. M 77 Mallowes, this herb groweth in gardens, and in vntilled places. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cccxxxvii. 784 The wilde Mallowe hath broade leaues somewhat rounde [etc.]. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone i. i, A thresher..dares not taste the smallest graine, But feedes on mallowes. 1610 Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 144. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Maulve, The white Mallow... The field Mallow, wild Mallow; our ordinarie Mallow. 1783 Crabbe Village 1, Hardy and high..The slimy mallow waves her silky leaf. 1855 Tennyson Brook 46 Many a fairy foreland set With willow-weed and mallow. 1855 E. Smith Bot. in Syst. Nat. Hist. I. 117 In the Geranium and the Mallows the whole [of the stamens] are united. 1876 Harley Mat. Med. (ed. 6) 709 The Mallow is found in most parts of Europe. |
2. With qualification applied to various malvaceous plants:
† crisp(ed,
curled(-leaved) mallow,
Malva crispa;
† cut mallow = vervain mallow;
dwarf mallow,
M. rotundifolia;
French mallow,
Lavatera Olbia;
Indian mallow, (
a)
Abutilon Avicennæ; (
b) any plant of the genera
Urena or
Sida;
rose mallow, (
a) see 5; (
b) the genus
Hibiscus,
esp. H. Moscheutos;
shrub († shrubbed, † shrubby) mallow,
Hibiscus syriacus;
† thorny mallow,
Hibiscus Sabdariffa;
tree mallow,
Lavatera arborea;
Venetian,
Venice mallow,
Hibiscus Trionum;
vervain mallow,
M. Alcea;
yellow mallow = Indian mallow. See also Jews' mallow (
Jew 3 d),
marshmallow, musk mallow.
| c 1265 Voc. Names Pl. in Wr.-Wülcker 558/1 Malua cri[s]pia, screpemalue [sic]. c 1450 ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 225 Tak þe rote of altea,..& þe crysp malwe, & boile alle in wyn or in ale. 1548 Turner Names of Herbes (1881) 10 It may be named Veruen mallowe, or cut mallowe. Ibid. 50 It is called in englishe french Mallowe. 1578 Lyte Dodoens v. xxiv. 581 The small wilde Hocke, or Dwarffe Mallowe. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cccxxxviii. 788 Althæa arborescens. Tree Mallowe. Ibid., Althæa frutex Clusii. Shrubbed Mallowe. Ibid., The shrubbie Mallowe riseth vp like vnto a hedge bush. Ibid. ii. cccxxxix. 790 Althæa lutea. Yellow Mallowe... It is called Abutilon. Ibid. cccxl. 791 Alcea Peregrina. Venice Mallowe. Sabdarifa. Thorney Mallowe. 1611 Cotgr., Maulve grande, the great Mallow, or tree Mallow. 1620 Venner Via Recta vii. 144 The best and wholsomest of them is the curled Mallow. 1707–12 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 180 Althæa Fruticosa, or Shrub-Mallow. 1754 Catal. Seeds in Fam. Rose of Kilravock (Spalding Club) 427 Tree-mallow, a shrub. Ibid. 428 Curled-leaved mallow...Abutilon, (Indian mallow). 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 318 Mallow, Yellow, Sida. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxiv. 344 Dwarf Mallow. Ibid. 345 Vervain Mallow. 1846–50 A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 207 M[alva] Crispa. Curled or Crisped-leaved Mallow. 1866 Treas. Bot., Hibiscus, the Rose-mallow family. Ibid. 665/1 L[avatera] arborea, the Sea or Tree Mallow, is a common south-west European plant. |
3. = marsh mallow,
Althæa officinalis. Called also
water mallow,
white mallow.
| 14.. in Rel. Ant. I. 53 Tak the white malue, and bryn hit. 1483 Cath. Angl. 226/2 A Malue, altea. 1548 Turner Names of Herbes (E.D.S.) 11 Althea..in Englishe marish mallowe or water mallowe. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cccxxxviii. 789 In English marsh Mallowe, moorish Mallowe, and white Mallowe. |
4. The Syrian Mallow,
Hibiscus syriacus.
| a 1387 Sinon. Barthol. (Anecd. Oxon.) 24 Herba siriaca, i. malve. c 1450 Alphita (Anecd. Oxon.) 111 Malua siriaca,..malewe. 1754 Catal. Seeds in Fam. Rose of Kilravock (Spalding Club) 427 Ketmia, (Syrian mallow). 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VIII. 498/2 Hibiscus, Syrian mallow. |
5. garden mallow or
rose mallow, the hollyhock,
Althæa rosea.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 61 It is Hollioke, or Garden Mallow. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cccxxxvi. 782 Of the garden Mallow called Hollihocke. 1707–12 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 229 Mallows of the Garden, is a fair large Flower,..the time of its flowering is in August and September. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Malva, The rose Mallow, or, as we call it, the hollyoak. |
6. The leaf or fibre of the mallow used for writing upon.
| 1656 Cowley Davideis i. Note 54 They did anciently write too upon Mallows. [1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) X. 504/1 Paper from the mallows may be used.] |
7. attrib. and
Comb., as
mallow colour,
mallow family,
mallow flower,
mallow leaf,
mallow plant,
mallow tribe,
mallow water;
mallow-flowered adj.;
mallows red (see
quot.);
mallow rose,
Hibiscus Moscheutos;
mallow tree = tree mallow (see 2);
mallow wort, a plant of the family Malvaceæ.
| 1611 Cotgr., Presme d'Esmaraude, a..course Emerauld;..some..of a thicke, or troubled *mallow colour. |
| 1857 A. Gray First Less. Bot. (1866) 109 In the corolla of Geranium..and of the *Mallow Family. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Gris violant, *Mallow-flower colour. |
| 1871 Kingsley At Last xvi, Ochro—a purple-stemmed *mallow-flowered plant. |
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 56 Take *malowe leues & leues of violet. |
| 1816 Bentham Chrestom. 325 A *mallow plant, with a flower on it. |
| 1862 O'Neill Dict. Calico Printing, etc. s.v. Mallow, The ordinary ‘*mallows red’ is exactly the same as dark crimson. |
| 1840 Paxton Bot. Dict., *Mallow rose, see Hibiscus moschatus [sic]. |
| 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. iii. 374 Trees and Shrubs which are now in Flower, as..*Mallow Tree, Arbor Judæ [etc.]. |
| 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 125 The *mallow tribe are characterized by containing..mucilaginous matter. 1852 Henslow Dict. Bot. Terms (1856), Malvaceæ..the Mallow Tribe. |
| 1898 E. C. E. Lückes Gen. Nursing x. (1900) 122 *Mallow water and camomile flower water are made in the same way. |
| 1845 Lindley Sch. Bot. 45 *Mallowworts, or Malvads. 1866 Treas. Bot. 665/1 Like the rest of mallowworts the Tree Mallow contains..mucilaginous matter. |