Polyanthus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A garden plant with flowers growing in dense clusters, typically in shades of red, yellow, pink, or white
2. A primrose variety bearing multiple colorful flowers arranged closely together in rounded heads
3. A cultivated plant producing tightly grouped blossoms on a single stem, prized for ornamental display

Etymology: The polyanthus is a primrose hybrid with many small flowers clustered on one stalk, and its name is a plain compound built from Greek. The first half, "poly-", means "many," and the second half, "anthus," comes from "ánthos," the Greek word for "flower." Put together, the name describes the plant exactly: a single stem bearing a whole bunch of blooms. The name was coined in Renaissance Latin as "polyanthus," and English later took it up from that scholarly coinage rather than from everyday speech. Although the Greek elements are ancient, the compound itself is a later invention, so the plant's name reflects the botanical habit of building descriptive Latin names from classical roots.

Synonyms: primrose