carnation
pronunciation
How to pronounce carnation in British English:
UK [kɑːˈneɪʃn]
How to pronounce carnation in American English:
US [kɑːrˈneɪʃn]
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- Noun:
- Eurasian plant with pink to purple-red spice-scented usually double flowers; widely cultivated in many varieties and many colors
- a pink or reddish-pink color
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- Adjective:
- having the color of a carnation
Word Origin
- carnation (n.)
- "Dianthus Caryophyllus," commonly also called "pink," herbaceous perennial flowering plant native to southern Europe and abundant in Normandy, 1530s, of uncertain origin. The early forms are confused; perhaps (on evidence of early spellings) it is a corruption of coronation, from the flower's being used in chaplets or from the toothed crown-like look of the petals. Or it might be called for its pinkness and derive from Middle French carnation "person's color or complexion" (15c.), which probably is from Italian dialectal carnagione "flesh color," from Late Latin carnationem (nominative carnatio) "fleshiness," from Latin caro "flesh" (see carnage). This carnation had been borrowed separately into English as "color of human flesh" (1530s) and as an adjective meaning "flesh-colored" (1560s; the earliest use of the word in English was to mean "the incarnation of Christ," mid-14c.). OED points out that not all the flowers are this color.
Example
- 1. Lisbon , portugal : a pregnant woman attends the 35th anniversary of the carnation revolution .
- 2. But portugal faces economic challenges unseen since the 1974 " carnation revolution " substituted democracy for decades of authoritarian rule .
- 3. Desserts are equally inventive : a creamy mamey ( a mexican fruit ) custard features gold leaf and red carnation preserve .
- 4. The house of representatives in may 1913 unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the president , his cabinet , the members of both houses and all officials of the federal government to wear a white carnation on mother 's day .