hydrangea

[hahy-dreyn-juh, -jee-uh, -dran-]

noun

any shrub belonging to the genus Hydrangea, of the saxifrage family, several species of which are cultivated for their large, showy flower clusters of white, pink, or blue.

Nearby words

Origin of hydrangea

< New Latin (Linnaeus) < Greek hydr- hydr-¹ + New Latin angea, feminine noun based on Greek angeîon vessel; so called from cup-shaped seed capsule

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hydrangea

One had settled on the hydrangea plant that filled the hearth.
Beyond|John Galsworthy
Fire and its licking tongue was after me and I threw myself off the hot tin roof and landed among the hydrangea bushes below.
The Blue Wall|Richard Washburn Child
Hydrangea has diuretic properties and is said to have been much used by the Cherokees and early settlers in calculous complaints.
Ginseng and Other Medicinal Plants|A. R. (Arthur Robert) Harding
Compound cyme of Hydrangea arborescens, with neutral enlarged flowers round the circumference.
The Elements of Botany|Asa Gray

As yet this is an uncommon shrub, and allied to the Hydrangea.
Hardy Ornamental Flowering Trees and Shrubs|A. D. Webster

British Dictionary definitions for hydrangea

hydrangea

noun

any shrub or tree of the Asian and American genus Hydrangea, cultivated for their large clusters of white, pink, or blue flowers: family Hydrangeaceae

Word Origin for hydrangea

C18: from New Latin, from Greek hudōr water + angeion vessel: probably from the cup-shaped fruit

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 hydrangea

hydrangea

1753, coined in Modern Latin by Linnæus as compound of Greek hydr-, stem of hydor "water" (see water (n.1)) + angeion "vessel, capsule" (see angio-); so called from the shrub's cup-shaped seed pods.