gillyflower

American  

[jil-ee-flou-er] / ˈdʒɪl iˌflaʊ ər /

Or gilliflower

noun

1. Archaic. any of several fragrant flowers of the genus Dianthus, as the carnation or clove pink.

2. any of various other usually fragrant flowers, especially a stock, Matthiola incana, of the mustard family.

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gillyflower British  

/ ˈdʒɪlɪˌflaʊə /

noun

1. any of several plants having fragrant flowers, such as the stock and wallflower

2. an archaic name for carnation

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Etymology

Origin of gillyflower

1300–50; alteration (by association with flower ) of Middle English gilofre, geraflour < Old French gilofre, girofle < Latin caryophyllum < Greek karyóphyllon clove ( káryo ( n ) nut + phýllon leaf )

Example Sentences

Gay couples have snapped up rainbow-colored arrangements for the occasions, some of dyed roses, others a mélange of blossoms that span the spectrum from red gingers to yellow mums to purple gillyflower.

From BusinessWeek • Oct. 20, 2011

The rose is red, the violet blue, The gillyflower sweet — and so are you.

From The Only True Mother Goose Melodies Without Addition or Abridgement by Unknown

The garden was Elizabeth's special pride; she loved to keep it an old-fashioned, old-world garden, and had herself planted sweet peas and stocks, and the spiked gillyflower, amongst the lavender bushes and the oleanders.

From The Girl Crusoes A Story of the South Seas by Strang, Mrs. Herbert

The rose is red, the violet blue, The gillyflower sweet, and so are you; These are the words you bade me say, For a pair of new gloves on Easter-day.

From Rhymes Old and New : collected by M.E.S. Wright by Wright, M. E. S.

"Well, a booky as big almost as a haystack; I have put up two bottles of the gillyflower water for Mrs. Sedley, and the receipt for making it, in Amelia's box."

From Vanity Fair by Thackeray, William Makepeace