carnation

[ kahr-ney-shuhn ]

noun
  1. any of numerous cultivated varieties of the clove pink, Dianthus caryophyllus, having long-stalked, fragrant, usually double flowers in a variety of colors: the state flower of Ohio.

  2. pink; light red.

  1. Obsolete. the color of flesh.

adjective
  1. having the color carnation.

Origin of carnation

1
1525–35; <Late Latin carnātiōn- (stem of carnātiō) fleshlikeness, hence flesh-color, equivalent to Latin carn- (stem of carō) flesh + -ātiōn--ation

Words Nearby carnation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use carnation in a sentence

  • Cannot you see the lovely Adele fastening the carnation to the lapel so that papa may be gay upon the street?

    Sixes and Sevens | O. Henry
  • In Major Ellison's buttonhole there was a carnation and a rosebud backed by a geranium leaf.

    Sixes and Sevens | O. Henry
  • While I think of it, I'll draw in a little mite of this red into my carnation pink.

    The Village Watch-Tower | (AKA Kate Douglas Riggs) Kate Douglas Wiggin
  • The lips too are figured out; but where's the carnation dew, the pouting ripeness that tempts the taste in the original?

    The Beaux-Stratagem | George Farquhar

British Dictionary definitions for carnation

carnation

/ (kɑːˈneɪʃən) /


noun
  1. Also called: clove pink a Eurasian caryophyllaceous plant, Dianthus caryophyllus, cultivated in many varieties for its white, pink, or red flowers, which have a fragrant scent of cloves

  2. the flower of this plant

    • a pink or reddish-pink colour

    • (as adjective): a carnation dress

  1. (often plural) a flesh tint in painting

Origin of carnation

1
C16: from French: flesh colour, from Late Latin carnātiō fleshiness, from Latin carō flesh

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012