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What is "wild woad"

The Collaborative International Dictionary
Wild woad

Woad \Woad\, n. [OE. wod, AS. w[=a]d; akin to D. weede, G. waid, OHG. weit, Dan. vaid, veid, Sw. veide, L. vitrum.] [Written also wad, and wade.]

  1. (Bot.) 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.

  2. 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 It is now superseded by indigo, but is somewhat used with indigo as a ferment in dyeing.

    Their bodies . . . painted with woad in sundry figures.
    --Milton.

    Wild woad (Bot.), the weld ( Reseda luteola). See Weld.

    Woad mill, a mill grinding and preparing woad.