passionflower
Appearance
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Calque of Italian fior della Passione or Latin flōs Passiōnis; after the appearance and number of its various parts, thought to be symbolic of Christ's passion.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]passionflower (plural passionflowers)
- Any of very many vines, in North America and elsewhere, of the genus Passiflora that bear edible fruit called passion fruit, and showy flowers of a structure symbolic of the Passion of Christ.
- 1819, Robert Southey, chapter XXXIV, in History of Brazil, 3rd part, London: […] [William Pople] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […], →OCLC, page 185:
- The Priests observed frequent fasts, and abstained at all times from certain animals and fruits, especially from the Granadilla, the fruit of the Passion-flower, because, say the lying Jesuits, of the mysteries which are signified in that marvellous blossom: the people also were frequently required to fast.
- The flower of this plant.
Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]plant of the genus Passiflora
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flower
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References
[edit]- Passiflora on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Passiflora on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
- Passiflora on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
- “passionflower”, in Collins English Dictionary.
- “passionflower”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- Passiflora at USDA Plants database