The Collaborative International Dictionary
Lavender \Lav"en*der\, n. [OE. lavendre, F. lavande, It. lavanda lavender, a washing, fr. L. lavare to wash; cf. It. lsavendola, LL. lavendula. So called because it was used in bathing and washing. See Lave. to wash, and cf. Lavender.]
(Bot.) An aromatic plant of the genus Lavandula ( Lavandula vera), common in the south of Europe. It yields and oil used in medicine and perfumery. The Spike lavender ( Lavandula Spica) yields a coarser oil (oil of spike), used in the arts.
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The pale, purplish color of lavender flowers, paler and more delicate than lilac. Lavender cotton (Bot.), a low, twiggy, aromatic shrub ( Santolina Cham[ae]cyparissus) of the Mediterranean region, formerly used as a vermifuge, etc., and still used to keep moths from wardrobes. Also called ground cypress. Lavender water, a perfume, toilet water, or shaving lotion containing the essential oil of lavender, and sometimes the essential oil of bergamot, and essence of ambergris. Sea lavender. (Bot.) See Marsh rosemary. To lay in lavender.
To lay away, as clothing, with sprigs of lavender.
To pawn. [Obs.]
Wikipedia
Usage examples of "lavandula vera".
Various species of Lavender are used in the preparation of the commercial essential oil, but the largest proportion is obtained from the flowers of Lavandula vera, the narrow-leaved form, which grows abundantly in sunny, stony localities in the Mediterranean countries, but nowhere to such perfection as in England.