\Lo"tus\, n. [L. lotus, Gr. ?. Cf. {Lote}.]
1. (Bot.)
   (a) A name of several kinds of water lilies; as {Nelumbium
       speciosum}, used in religious ceremonies, anciently in
       Egypt, and to this day in Asia; {Nelumbium luteum},
       the American lotus; and {Nymph[ae]a Lotus} and {N.
       c[ae]rulea}, the respectively white-flowered and
       blue-flowered lotus of modern Egypt, which, with
       {Nelumbium speciosum}, are figured on its ancient
       monuments.
   (b) The lotus of the lotuseaters, probably a tree found in
       Northern Africa, Sicily, Portugal, and Spain
       ({Zizyphus Lotus}), the fruit of which is mildly
       sweet. It was fabled by the ancients to make strangers
       who ate of it forget their native country, or lose all
       desire to return to it.
   (c) The lote, or nettle tree. See {Lote}.
   (d) A genus ({Lotus}) of leguminous plants much resembling
       clover. [Written also {lotos}.]
{European lotus}, a small tree ({Diospyros Lotus}) of
   Southern Europe and Asia; also, its rather large bluish
   black berry, which is called also the {date plum}.
2. (Arch.) An ornament much used in Egyptian architecture,
   generally asserted to have been suggested by the Egyptian
   water lily.