WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Woad
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [OE. wod, AS. wad; akin to D. weede, G. waid, OHG. weit, Dan. vaid, veid, Sw. veide, L. vitrum.] [Written also wad, and wade.]
Definition : 1. (Bot.)

Defn: An herbaceous cruciferous plant (Isatis tinctoria). It was formerly cultivated for the blue coloring matter derived from its leaves.

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 It is now superseded by indigo, but is somewhat used with indigo as a ferment in dyeing.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.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913