amaryllis

(am′ə rilis)

noun

any of several plants (esp. genus Hippeastrum) of the lily family bearing several white, purple, pink, or red flowers on a leafless stem, including the belladonna lily

Origin: < L & Gr Amaryllis, a shepherdess' name in poems by Virgil and Theocritus

See amaryllis in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. Any of several chiefly tropical American bulbous plants of the genus Hippeastrum grown as ornamentals for their large, showy, funnel-shaped, variously colored flowers that are grouped in umbels.
  2. See belladonna lily.
  3. Any of several similar or related plants.
  4. Amaryllis Used in classical pastoral poetry as a conventional name for a shepherdess.

Origin:

Origin: New Latin Amaryllis, genus name

Origin: , from Latin, name of a shepherdess

Origin: , from Greek Amarullis

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