cattleya

American

[kat-lee-uh, kat-lee-uh, -ley-uh] / ˈkæt li ə, kætˈli ə, -ˈleɪ ə /

noun

any of several tropical American orchids of the genus Cattleya, having showy flowers ranging from white to purple.

cattleya British

/ ˈkætlɪə /

noun

any tropical American orchid of the genus Cattleya, cultivated for their purplish-pink or white showy flowers

"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

Etymology

Origin of cattleya

1820–30; after William Cattley (died 1832), English botany enthusiast; see -a ²

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.

Cattleya Jaruthavee is a British-Thai photographer who documents sociological aspects of society, whether it is through exploring herself as the subject or others.

From Slate • Mar. 9, 2018

Of a batch of Cattleya Gigas he had shipped from South America, one astonishingly bloomed Albino.

From Time Magazine Archive

Since they were not in flower, there was no way of telling more than that they were Cattleya Gigas, a fairly common orchid family.

From Time Magazine Archive

Admirers in the galleries showered their favorite racers with bunches of roses, lillies, Cattleya orchids.

From Time Magazine Archive

However, in 1889, Cattleya labiata reappeared; oddly enough a collector of insects found it originally, and a collector of insects rediscovered it.

From The Woodlands Orchids by Boyle, Frederick

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023