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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Tûrn'sōle, n.

noun

n. [Fr. tournesol, It. tornasole, from Fr. tourner, It. tornare, to turn, and Lat. sol, It. sole, the sun. Cf. HELIOTROPE.] [Also turnsol.]

  1. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Heliotropium; heliotrope;—so named because its flower is supposed to turn toward the sun.
  2. A kind of dye obtained from certain lichens; litmus; also, a pigment in the form of a stiff paste, made from the concentrated dye of lichens, thickened with chalk, and the like. Simmonds.