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Passion flower

 - 2 dictionary results

pas⋅sion⋅flow⋅er

[pash-uhn-flou-er]
–noun
any chiefly American climbing vine or shrub of the genus Passiflora, having showy flowers and a pulpy berry or fruit that in some species is edible.

Origin:
1605–15; trans. of NL flōs passiōnis flower of the Passion; so named because the parts of the flower were imagined as symbolic of the objects and events of Christ's Passion
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pas·sion·flow·er   (pāsh'ən-flou'ər)   
n.  Any of various climbing, tendril-bearing, chiefly tropical American vines of the genus Passiflora, having large showy flowers with a fringelike crown and a conspicuous stalk that bears the stamens and pistil.

[From the resemblance of its parts to the instruments of the Passion.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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