Dictionary.com
definitions

boutonniere

[boot-n-eer, boo-tuh n-yair]
See more synonyms for boutonniere on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a flower or small bouquet worn, usually by a man, in the buttonhole of a lapel.

Origin of boutonniere

1875–80; < French boutonnière buttonhole (bouton button + -ière suffix for things that facilitate the use of that denoted by the stem < Latin -āria -ary
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for boutonniere

pot, wreath, garland, vase, nosegay, posy, festoon, spray, boutonniere, buttonhole, corsage, lei, flower, sentiment, bouquet, blossom, verse, motto

Examples from the Web for boutonniere

Historical Examples of boutonniere

  • No woman ever combined a carnation and a rosebud into a boutonniere.

  • Seven violets so treated will be sufficient for one boutonniere.

    Candy-Making Revolutionized

    Mary Elizabeth Hall

  • He lifted the lapel of his coat, carrying the boutonniere to his nose.

    The White Moll

    Frank L. Packard

  • It is a little stringy for a boutonniere, but it fills the modern-trained eye as no other flower can fill it.

  • Then as she glanced at the lapel of his coat she continued: "And you must have a boutonniere; may I select something for you?"

    The Heatherford Fortune

    Mrs. Georgie Sheldon

British Dictionary definitions for boutonniere

boutonniere

noun
  1. another name for buttonhole (def. 2)

Word Origin for boutonniere

C19: from French: buttonhole, from bouton button
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for boutonniere
n.

1877, from French boutonnière, from bouton (see button (n.)).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper