Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Eglantine \Eg"lan*tine\, n. [F. ['e]glantine, fr. OF. aiglent
brier, hip tree, fr. (assumed) LL. acuculentus, fr. a dim. of
L. acus needle; cf. F. aiguille needle. Cf. {Aglet}.] (Bot.)
(a) A species of rose ({Rosa Eglanteria}), with fragrant
foliage and flowers of various colors.
(b) The sweetbrier ({R. rubiginosa}).
Note: Milton, in the following lines, has applied the name to
some twinning plant, perhaps the honeysuckle.
Through the sweetbrier, or the vine, Or the
twisted eglantine. --L'Allegro,
47.
``In our early writers and in Gerarde and the
herbalists, it was a shrub with white flowers.'' --Dr.
Prior.
Source : WordNet®
Rosa eglanteria
n : Eurasian rose with prickly stems and fragrant leaves and
bright pink flowers followed by scarlet hips [syn: {sweetbrier},
{sweetbriar}, {brier}, {briar}, {eglantine}]