1. Any of several aromatic Eurasian herbs or low shrubs of the genus Thymus, especially T. vulgaris, of southern Europe, having small, white to lilac flowers grouped in headlike clusters.
2. The leaves of this plant used as a seasoning.

[Middle English, from Old French thym, from Latin thymum, from Greek thumon.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.