mimosa

[ mi-moh-suh, -zuh ]

/ mɪˈmoʊ sə, -zə /

noun

any of numerous plants, shrubs, or trees belonging to the genus Mimosa, of the legume family, native to tropical or warm regions, having small flowers in globular heads or cylindrical spikes and often sensitive leaves.

any of various similar or related plants, especially of the genus Acacia, as the silver wattle, or Albizzia, as the silk tree.

a cocktail of orange juice and champagne, usually in equal parts.

Nearby words

mimicry, mimine, miminy-piminy, mimir, mimo, mimosa, mimosaceous, mimosis, mims, mims, fort, mimsy

Origin of mimosa

1695–1705; < New Latin, equivalent to Latin mīm(us) mime + -ōsa, feminine of -ōsus -ose¹

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

Examples from the Web for mimosa

Armed with a breakfast burrito and sparkling Mimosa, we strongly disagree.
Don’t Diss the Beauty of Brunch: Defending Our Favorite Meal|Tim Teeman|October 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Great valleys opened out, dotted with mimosa patches and baobab, and half a hundred varieties of shrubbery.
Haviland's Chum|Bertram Mitford
There were some, however, whose tufted crowns reached within a few yards of the lower limbs of the mimosa.
The Forest Exiles|Mayne Reid
They prove conclusively the diurnal variation of excitability in Mimosa.
Life Movements in Plants|Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose

They saw broken branches of the mimosa giving out their odour, that had not had time to waste itself.
Popular Adventure Tales|Mayne Reid
Examples of this are furnished by the cardiac muscle of the animal, the pulvinus of Mimosa, and the stamen of Berberis.
Life Movements in Plants|Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose

British Dictionary definitions for mimosa

mimosa

/ (mɪˈməʊsə, -zə) /

noun

any tropical shrub or tree of the leguminous genus Mimosa, having ball-like clusters of yellow or pink flowers and compound leaves that are often sensitive to touch or lightSee also sensitive plant

any similar or related tree

Word Origin for mimosa

C18: from New Latin, probably from Latin mīmus mime, because the plant's sensitivity to touch imitates the similar reaction of animals

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