calceolaria

American  

[kal-see-uh-lair-ee-uh] / ˌkæl si əˈlɛər i ə /

noun

1. any plant of the genus Calceolaria, of the figwort family, various species of which are cultivated for their slipperlike flowers.

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calceolaria British  

/ ˌkælsɪəˈlɛərɪə /

noun

1. Also called: slipperwort.  any tropical American scrophulariaceous plant of the genus Calceolaria: cultivated for its speckled slipper-shaped flowers

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Etymology

Origin of calceolaria

1840–50; < New Latin, equivalent to Latin calceol ( us ) small shoe ( calce ( us ) shoe + -olus -ole ¹ ) + -āria -aria

Example Sentences

We never had to think of ordinary things till the soft musical thrill of the Japanese gong stole through the trees, and we trotted off to the Calceolaria.

From The Forerunner, Volume 1 (1909-1910) by Gilman, Charlotte Perkins

And yet that Calceolaria was only two minutes off—and with raincoats and rubbers we never minded going to it.

From The Forerunner, Volume 1 (1909-1910) by Gilman, Charlotte Perkins

They didn't call it a boarding-house, which is neither high nor musical; they called it "The Calceolaria."

From The Forerunner, Volume 1 (1909-1910) by Gilman, Charlotte Perkins

The gardener delights in it; it is all routine work; so many hundreds or thousands of scarlet Geranium, of yellow Calceolaria, of blue Lobelia, of golden Feverfew, or of other coloured material.

From Wood and Garden Notes and thoughts, practical and critical, of a working amateur by Jekyll, Gertrude

Every child in our town used to have a Calceolaria in her own small garden plot, but I never wanted one.

From Old-Time Gardens Newly Set Forth by Earle, Alice Morse