burnet

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   any herb of the genus Sanguisorba, especially salad burnet, with divided leaves and dense clusters of small flowers

   Wild burnet grew among the sparse grass on the exposed island.

2. 2
   noun

   any of several day-flying moths of the family Zygaenidae, typically dark-colored with bright red spots

   A six-spot burnet rested on a purple thistle flower.

From Middle English burnet and Anglo-French burnete, related to brun, 'brown.' The plant name is medieval; the moth name was later applied to dark, often red-marked species whose coloring suggested the same brownish or burnished association.

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