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).
Related phrases
More for "zinnia"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.