petunia
Use Petunia in a sentence
nyə, -ni noun
1.
any garden plant belonging to the genus Petunia, of the nightshade family, native to tropical America, having funnel-shaped flowers of various colors.
2.
a deep, reddish purple.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To petunia
Collins
World English Dictionary
petunia (pɪˈtjuːnɪə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| any solanaceous plant of the tropical American genus Petunia: cultivated for their white, pink, blue, or purple funnel-shaped flowers | |
| [C19: via New Latin from obsolete French petun variety of tobacco, from Tupi petyn] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Petunia
is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
petunia
1825, from Mod.L. Petunia (1789), from Fr. petun, an obs. word for "tobacco plant," from Port. petum, from Guarani (Paraguay) pety. It has a botanical affinity to the tobacco plant. Pety first recorded (in Ger.) as bittin; it survives as the regular word for tobacco only in Breton butun, but it was in
use in Eng. in 17c.
"Many haue giuen it the name, Petum, whiche is in deede the proper name of the Hearbe, as they whiche haue traueiled that countrey can tell." [John Frampton, transl. of Nicolás Monardes' "Joyful Newes Oute of the Newe Founde Worlde," 1577]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
The new petunia is derived from a purple variety in which the gene producing the purple pigment has been turned off.
In the packing carton were three small begonias plus some petunia seedlings.
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