Peonie

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A herbaceous or woody plant bearing large, fragrant flowers with many petals, typically in shades of pink, red, white, or yellow
2. A perennial or shrubby plant known for its spectacular blooms with numerous layered petals and often sweet fragrance
3. A flowering plant producing showy, full-petaled blossoms that are popular in gardens and as cut flowers

Etymology: Before it named a flower, the Greek name "Paiōn" belonged to a healing god, a physician of the gods who tended Ares after a wound in the Iliad. Greek writers later applied the name to a plant whose roots were used as medicine, and Latin turned it into "paeonia." The flower's name thus records a medical use, not its beauty. The spelling "peonie" is an older English form, reflecting the Old French "peonie" that carried the Latin word into English during the Middle Ages. Over the centuries the spelling settled into "peony," with the "y" replacing the "ie" ending while the stress and core sound stayed the same. The plant's botanical genus, Paeonia, keeps the original Latin form.

Synonyms: peony