Editor's Corner

Today I’m going to take a break from state nicknames and talk about flowers. 😊

Did spring already come and go? June is here and the sun is still reluctant to come out in San Diego, but when I walk through the neighborhood, I smell jasmine, Natal plums, and orchid trees.

Merriam-Webster also informed me that spring (almost summer!) is here when they published these etymologies of flowers. Here is a selection of them and a couple of photos for you, but if you’d like the full bouquet, it is here: flower etymologies.

Dandelion

Though widely considered a pesky weed, the name dandelion has a majestic meaning: it comes from Anglo-French dent de lion which literally means "lion’s tooth" because of the toothed shape of the ends of its petals.

Pansy

The name for this delicate flower is deeper than it seems: the word pansy is related to the word pensive. It comes from Middle French pensée meaning "thought," from the past participle of penser "to think," and ultimately from Latin pensare "to ponder."

Azalea

Borrowed from Greek azaléā, the feminine of azaléos, azalea means literally "dry, parched, withered." Apparently this flowering shrub was given its name because of its ability to thrive in a dry climate.

Daisy

Daisy is from Old English dægesēage, from dæg meaning "day" and ēage meaning "eye." This is because the flower opens or "wakes" in the morning and closes or "sleeps" at night. The ray-like appearance of the daisy as it wakes and sleeps with the sun reminds one of an eye that opens in the morning and closes at night.

Hydrangea

The hydrangea, a popular flowering shrub, gets its name not from the shape of its flowers or leaves, but from the shape of its seed pods: from Greek hydr- meaning "water" and angeîon meaning "vessel, container," the name refers to the cup-like capsules that hold its seeds.

Iris

The word iris is borrowed from Latin īrid-, īris "rainbow," borrowed from Greek meaning "rainbow, iridescent halo around the moon." The etymology of this word is for both the flower and the colored part of the eye.

Tulip

The name of the cup-shaped tulip comes from the Turkish word tülbent which means "turban." The flower got its name from the resemblance of its overlapping petals to the folds of fabric in a turban, a headdress worn chiefly in countries of the eastern Mediterranean and southern Asia.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

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