The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
n. Any of various aromatic, ornamental, annual or perennial plants of the genus Nepeta, having opposite leaves and variously colored flowers with two-lipped corollas.
n. The plant Nepeta cataria, or other members of the genus; catnip.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. A plant of the genus Nepeta, N. Cataria: so called because cats are fond of it.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
n. hairy aromatic perennial herb having whorls of small white purple-spotted flowers in a terminal spike; used in the past as a domestic remedy; strongly attractive to cats
Word Usage
"Thus you are not ignorant of the singularly aphrodisiac effect produced by the Nepeta cataria, vulgarly called catmint, on the feline race; and, on the other hand, to quote an example whose authenticity I can answer for."