woodwaxen

noun

wood·​wax·​en

ˈwu̇ˌdwaksən

variants or less commonly woodwax

ˈ⸗ˌ⸗

plural woodwaxens also woodwaxes

: a yellow-flowered Eurasian shrub (Genista tinctoria) common as a weed in England, adventive in North America, and sometimes cultivated for ornament

called also dyer's broom, dyeweed, greenweed, greenwood, whin, woadwaxen

Word History

Etymology

Middle English wodewexen, alteration of Old English wuduweaxe, from wudu wood + -weaxe (probably from weaxan to grow)

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