anemone
Americannoun
-
any of various plants belonging to the genus Anemone, of the buttercup family, having petallike sepals and including several wild species with white flowers as well as others cultivated for their showy flowers in a variety of colors.
noun
Etymology
Origin of anemone
1545–55; < Latin < Greek: literally, daughter of the wind, equivalent to ánem ( os ) wind + -ōnē feminine patronymic suffix; see -one
Explanation
An anemone is a brightly colored flower. Another name for an anemone is a "windflower." You might decide to plant anemones in your garden if you want a colorful, summer-blooming plant. Another kind of anemone is a "sea anemone," which is not a plant at all, but a flower-like sea creature that attaches itself to a surface and feeds on fish and crustaceans. Anemone is a Greek word that means "windflower" or literally "daughter of the wind," from anemos, "wind," and the feminine suffix -one.
Vocabulary lists containing anemone
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sea anemone isn’t braised and paired with glass noodles.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 18, 2025
“Sea anemone is very textural, and requires a lot of preparation,” Hudda explains.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 18, 2025
By measuring the aspect ratio -- the ratio of length to width -- they found that the anemone returned to its pre-injury proportions.
From Science Daily • Nov. 29, 2024
While some regenerating animals like salamanders and fish focus on restoring lost parts in proportion to what remains, this sea anemone takes a different approach.
From Science Daily • Nov. 29, 2024
She finds barnacles, an anemone as soft as silk; she sets her fingers as lightly as she can on a Nassarius.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.