pansy
pronunciation
How to pronounce pansy in British English:
UK [ˈpænzi]
How to pronounce pansy in American English:
US ['pænzɪ]
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- Noun:
- large-flowered garden plant derived chiefly from the wild pansy of Europe and having velvety petals of various colors
- a timid man or boy considered childish or unassertive
- offensive terms for an openly homosexual man
Word Origin
- pansy
- pansy: [15] French pensée means literally ‘thought’, and it was presumably the pensive look of these flowers of the viola family that earned them the name. English originally took it over as pensee, but later anglicized it to pansy. The use of the word for an effeminate male homosexual dates from the 1920s. French pensée itself is the feminine past participle of penser ‘think’ (source also of English pensive [14]). This was descended from Latin pēnsāre ‘weigh’, which in post-classical times was used for ‘think’.=> pensive
- pansy (n.)
- mid-15c., from Middle French pensée "a pansy," literally "thought, remembrance," from fem. past participle of penser "to think," from Latin pensare "consider," frequentative of pendere "to weigh" (see pendant). So called because it was regarded as a symbol of thought or remembrance. Meaning "effeminate homosexual man" is first recorded 1929.
Example
- 1. Don 't make him look like a pansy , eh ? No , like a rock star .
- 2. The openly polygamous mr. ho has 17 children , which include two children -- pansy , 45 , and lawrence , 32 -- who have each teamed up with foreign partners to open casinos in macau .