gillyflower

American  

[jil-ee-flou-er] / ˈdʒɪl iˌflaʊ ər /

Or gilliflower

noun

1. Archaic. any of several fragrant flowers of the genus Dianthus, as the carnation or clove pink.

2. any of various other usually fragrant flowers, especially a stock, Matthiola incana, of the mustard family.

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gillyflower British  

/ ˈdʒɪlɪˌflaʊə /

noun

1. any of several plants having fragrant flowers, such as the stock and wallflower

2. an archaic name for carnation

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Etymology

Origin of gillyflower

1300–50; alteration (by association with flower ) of Middle English gilofre, geraflour < Old French gilofre, girofle < Latin caryophyllum < Greek karyóphyllon clove ( káryo ( n ) nut + phýllon leaf )

Example Sentences

Gay couples have snapped up rainbow-colored arrangements for the occasions, some of dyed roses, others a mélange of blossoms that span the spectrum from red gingers to yellow mums to purple gillyflower.

From BusinessWeek • Oct. 20, 2011

I might as well try to whiten a clove gillyflower!

From Love and Life An Old Story in Eighteenth Century Costume by Yonge, Charlotte Mary

Once the Shipwrights' Company had their hall here; it stood among gardens where the scent of the gillyflower and the stock mingled with the scent of the tar from the neighbouring rope-yard and boat-building yard.

From As We Are and As We May Be by Besant, Walter, Sir

Truly she doth so far exceed Our women nowadays, As doth the gillyflower a weed; And more a thousand ways.

From The Home Book of Verse — Volume 1 by Stevenson, Burton Egbert

The gillyflower of Chaucer and Spenser and Shakespeare was, as in Italy, Dianthus Caryophyllus; that of later writers and of gardeners, Matthiola.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 1 "Gichtel, Johann" to "Glory" by Various