edelweiss Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun alpine perennial plant native to Europe having leaves covered with whitish down and small flower heads held in stars of glistening whitish bracts
    Leontopodium alpinum.

WordNet


E"del*weiss noun
Etymology
G., fr. edel noble + weiss white.
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) A little, perennial, white, woolly plant (Leontopodium alpinum), growing at high elevations in the Alps. = the national flower of Austria

Webster 1913