Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WOAD, n. [Sax. wad or waad; G. waid, weid; D. weede; Fr. guede; It. guado. Qu. weed.]

A plant of the genus Isatis, cultivated for the use of dyers. The woad blue is a very deep blue, and is the base of many other colors or shades of color. Woad is first bruised in a mill, and then made into balls. It grows wild in France and along the coasts of the Baltic. The term woad is applied to the Reseda, weld or wold, and to the Genista tinctoria or dyer's broom. – Cyc.