DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 Lo·tus n.
 1. Bot. (a) A name of several kinds of water lilies; as Nelumbium speciosum, used in religious ceremonies, anciently in Egypt, and to this day in Asia; Nelumbium luteum, the American lotus; and Nymphæa Lotus and Nymphæa cærulea, the respectively white-flowered and blue-flowered lotus of modern Egypt, which, with Nelumbium speciosum, are figured on its ancient monuments. (b) The lotus of the lotuseaters, probably a tree found in Northern Africa, Sicily, Portugal, and Spain (Zizyphus Lotus), the fruit of which is mildly sweet. It was fabled by the ancients to make strangers who ate of it forget their native country, or lose all desire to return to it. (c) The lote, or nettle tree. See Lote. (d) A genus (Lotus) of leguminous plants much resembling clover. [Written also lotos.]
 European lotus, a small tree (Diospyros Lotus) of Southern Europe and Asia; also, its rather large bluish black berry, which is called also the date plum.
 2. Arch. An ornament much used in Egyptian architecture, generally asserted to have been suggested by the Egyptian water lily.
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 Date, n. Bot. The fruit of the date palm; also, the date palm itself.
 Note: ☞ This fruit is somewhat in the shape of an olive, containing a soft pulp, sweet, esculent, and wholesome, and inclosing a hard kernel.
 Date palm, or Date tree Bot., the genus of palms which bear dates, of which common species is Phœnix dactylifera. See Illust.
 Date plum Bot., the fruit of several species of Diospyros, including the American and Japanese persimmons, and the European lotus (Diospyros Lotus).
 Date shell, or Date fish Zool., a bivalve shell, or its inhabitant, of the genus Pholas, and allied genera. See Pholas.

 Diospyros lotus
      n : an Asiatic persimmon tree cultivated for its small yellow or
          purplish-black edible fruit much valued by Afghan tribes
          [syn: date plum]