Zinnia
name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Any of several brightly coloured flowering plants, of the genus Zinnia, native to tropical America; old maid.
"[…]the Consul at this moment greeted Mr. Quincey's cat, momentarily forgetting its owner again as the grey, meditative animal, with a tail so long it trailed on the ground, came stalking through the zinnias: […]"
- 2 any of various plants of the genus Zinnia cultivated for their variously and brightly colored flower heads wordnet
- 1 A female given name from English from the flower
"Zinnia had already attained fifty, I guessed, and wore a professional white coat over a grey flannel skirt. In spite of her colourful name she had short grey hair hair, no lipstick, flat-heeled shoes and an air of tiredness, […]"
Example
More examples"Zinnia had already attained fifty, I guessed, and wore a professional white coat over a grey flannel skirt. In spite of her colourful name she had short grey hair hair, no lipstick, flat-heeled shoes and an air of tiredness, […]"
Etymology
Borrowed from translingual Zinnia. Coined in 1767, after Johann Gottfried Zinn, German botanist (d. 1759).