gillyflower
pronunciation
How to pronounce gillyflower in British English:
UK ['dʒɪlɪˌflaʊə]
How to pronounce gillyflower in American English:
US ['dʒɪlɪˌflaʊə]
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- Noun:
- any of several Old World plants cultivated for their brightly colored flowers
- Eurasian plant with pink to purple-red spice-scented usually double flowers; widely cultivated in many varieties and many colors
Word Origin
- gillyflower
- gillyflower: see clove
- gillyflower (n.)
- type of flowering plant, 1550s, folk etymology alteration (by association with unrelated flower) of gilofre "gillyflower" (late 14c.), originally "clove" (c. 1300), from Old French girofle "clove" (12c.), from Latin caryophyllon, from Greek karyophyllon "clove, nut leaf, dried flower bud of clove tree," from karyon "nut" (see karyo-) + phyllon "leaf" (see phyllo-). The flower so named for its scent.
Example
- 1. There are apples for keeping , cooking , eating and the making of ciders , with names as colorful as they are various : scollop gillyflower , red winter pearmain , kansas keeper .