gardenia

[ gahr-dee-nyuh, -nee-uh ]

noun
  1. any evergreen tree or shrub belonging to the genus Gardenia, of the madder family, native to the warmer parts of the Eastern Hemisphere, cultivated for its usually large, fragrant white flowers.

  2. the flower of any of these plants.

Origin of gardenia

1
<New Latin (1760), after Alexander Garden (1730–91), American physician; see -ia

Words Nearby gardenia

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

How to use gardenia in a sentence

  • Gordon was sitting on the corner of the bed, looking very fine with a gardenia in his buttonhole.

    A Top-Floor Idyl | George van Schaick
  • He was wearing a morning coat, faultlessly pressed, and in its buttonhole bloomed a gardenia.

    Tutors' Lane | Wilmarth Lewis

British Dictionary definitions for gardenia

gardenia

/ (ɡɑːˈdiːnɪə) /


noun
  1. any evergreen shrub or tree of the Old World tropical rubiaceous genus Gardenia, cultivated for their large fragrant waxlike typically white flowers

  2. the flower of any of these shrubs

Origin of gardenia

1
C18: New Latin, named after Dr Alexander Garden (1730–91), American botanist

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