Passionflower Definition
pazhənflouər
noun
Any of a genus (Passiflora) of mostly climbing plants of the passionflower family, with red, yellow, green, white, or purple flowers and usually small, edible, yellow or purple, egg-shaped fruit.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
- passionflower vine
adjective
Designating a family (Passifloraceae, order Violales) of mostly tendril-climbing, tropical, dicotyledonous plants, including the maypop.
Webster's New World
Other Word Forms of Passionflower
Noun
Singular:
passionflower
Plural:
passionflowersOrigin of Passionflower
So called because various parts were thought to recall the Passion—the filamentous corona being likened to the crown of thorns, the five anthers to the five wounds inflicted on Jesus, and the three bulbous stigmata of the pistils to the three nails used in the Crucifixion, for example
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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passion +"Ž flower; from the number of its various parts, thought to be symbolic of Christ's passion
From Wiktionary
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