zinnia

Definition

Any of several brightly coloured flowering plants, of the genus Zinnia, native to tropical America; old maid.

Etymology

Borrowed from translingual Zinnia. Coined in 1767, after Johann Gottfried Zinn, German botanist (d. 1759).

Example Sentences

• "[…]the Consul at this moment greeted Mr. Quincey's cat, momentarily forgetting its owner again as the grey, meditative animal, with a tail so long it trailed on the ground, came stalking through the zinnias: […]"
• "Santa sighed at the unfairness of it all and slammed the picture down on the mantelpiece among the bowl of wax fruit and the bouquet of paper zinnias and the statue of the Virgin Mary and the figurine of the Infant of Prague."