noun1. a European boraginaceous plant, Alkanna tinctoria, the roots of which yield a red dye
2. Also called: anchusin, alkannin the dye obtained from this plant
3. any of certain hairy blue-flowered Old World plants of the boraginaceous genus Anchusa (or Pentaglottis), such as A. sempervirens of Europe
See also bugloss 4. another name for puccoon (sense 1)
Word origin
C14: from Spanish
alcaneta, diminutive of
alcana henna, from Medieval Latin
alchanna, from Arabic
al the +
hinnā' henna