Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Lotus \Lo"tus\, n. [L. lotus, Gr. ?. Cf. {Lote}.]
   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 {Nymph[ae]a Lotus} and {N.
          c[ae]rulea}, 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}.

Source : WordNet®

Nymphaea lotus
     n : white Egyptian lotus: water lily of Egypt to southeastern
         Africa; held sacred by the Egyptians [syn: {lotus}, {white
         lotus}, {Egyptian water lily}, {white lily}]