Nasturtium
//nasˈtɜːʃəm// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The popular name of any of the plants in the Tropaeolum genus of flowering plants native to south and central America.
"To me a nasturtium by the river brink is more than a simple flower. It is a broader, grander, more magnificent, more stupendous symbol. It may mean anything, everything—such as sunsets and conflagrations and Götterdämmerungs!"
- 2 flowers and seeds and leaves all used as flavorings wordnet
- 3 A plant in this genus, garden nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus).
- 4 any tropical American plant of the genus Tropaeolum having pungent juice and long-spurred yellow to red flowers wordnet
- 5 Any of the plants in the genus Nasturtium that includes watercress.
Example
More examples"To me a nasturtium by the river brink is more than a simple flower. It is a broader, grander, more magnificent, more stupendous symbol. It may mean anything, everything—such as sunsets and conflagrations and Götterdämmerungs!"
Etymology
From Middle English nasturcium, from Old English nasturcium (“watercress”), from Latin nasturtium.
Related phrases
More for "nasturtium"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.