bougainvillea

[boo-guhn-vil-ee-uh, -vil-yuh, boh-]

noun

1. any of several shrubs or vines of the genus Bougainvillea, native to South America, having small flowers with showy, variously colored bracts, and often cultivated in warm regions.

bougainvillea

/ ˌbuːɡənˈvɪlɪə /

noun

1. any tropical woody nyctaginaceous widely cultivated climbing plant of the genus Bougainvillea , having inconspicuous flowers surrounded by showy red or purple bracts

Word History and Origins

Origin of bougainvillea¹

1789; < New Latin, named after L. A. de Bougainville

Word History and Origins

Origin of bougainvillea¹

C19: New Latin, named after Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811), French navigator

Example Sentences

Its entrance is sealed with a crude brick-and-mud wall, and an overgrown bougainvillea, bright with pink blooms, spills over the front boundary.

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These days, I notice fuchsia bursts of bougainvillea instead of my mushy backside.

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In a neighbourhood close to the scene of the attack - where plush villas and foreign embassies sit behind high walls, topped with bougainvillea - the streets lay empty.

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I said these things as if I were asking, “Aren’t I amazing?” and “Isn’t looking at me next to a bougainvillea spectacular?”

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The lush motif is carried outdoors to the deck off of the kitchen, where the hillside’s palm trees, bougainvillea and citrus provide shade for the dining table and chairs.

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