carnation

Definition

A type of Eurasian plant widely cultivated for its flowers.

Etymology

From Middle French carnation (“flesh color, complexion”), either via Italian carnagione (“flesh color”) or directly from Late Latin carnātiō (“fleshiness”), from Latin carō (“flesh, meat”) + ātiō (“-ation”). As a flower and its color, possibly instead from corruption in French of coronation (“crowning, crowned thing”) under the influence of carnation, from the flower's supposed resemblance to a crown.

Example Sentences

• "And the women of New Bedford, they bloom like their own red roses. But roses only bloom in summer; whereas the fine carnation of their cheeks is perennial as sunlight in the seventh heavens."

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