: a European herb (Isatis tinctoria) of the mustard family formerly grown for the blue dyestuff yielded by its leaves
also: this dyestuff
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebMany purples in historic fabrics are, in fact, the result of coloring a fabric with a blue dye, like indigo or woad, and a red dye, like madder. Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 July 2022 In France in 1598, King Henry IV favored woad producers by banning the import of indigo, and in 1609 decreed that anyone using the dye would be executed. Brandon Tensley, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Nov. 2020 Plus, indigo represented a threat to European textile merchants who had heavily invested in woad, a homegrown source of blue dye. Brandon Tensley, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Nov. 2020 His ruling élite dressed in the finest clothes, made by boiling woad leaves and madder roots to produce dyes of dazzling cerulean and ruby. Ruth Margalit, The New Yorker, 22 June 2020 Seeing a peasant wearing red is improbable, but the abundance of woad makes blue dyes commonplace even among peasants. Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, 13 Nov. 2018 The family imported herring and woad in large enough quantities to buy an existing estate and win a kind of ersatz ennoblement. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 16 Jan. 2017 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English wod, from Old English wād; akin to Old High German weit woad, Latin vitrum
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of woad was before the 12th century