peony
Americannoun
noun
-
any of various ranunculaceous shrubs and plants of the genus Paeonia, of Eurasia and North America, having large pink, red, white, or yellow flowers
-
the flower of any of these plants
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of peony
before 1000; Middle English < Late Latin peōnia, Latin paeōnia < Greek paiōnía peony, akin to Paiā́n paean; replacing Middle English pione < Anglo-French < Old French peone < Latin; replacing Old English peonie < Late Latin, Latin, as above
Vocabulary lists containing peony
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Red
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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.
See Examples For:
I’ve witnessed the magic of a peony going from hot pink to pale coral, watched a tulip’s petals double in size and seen a rose clinging to the last glimmers of its fading bloom.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 22, 2023
I returned home to find a bed of fading peony petals — and a lesson in humility.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 22, 2023
Learn how to have several months of blooms by overlapping peony types, and find out why your peonies stopped blooming or never bloomed.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 29, 2022
Add a few peony varieties chosen specifically for their flowering times, and nearly a month of tall, sun-loving herbaceous Paeonia lactiflora and its hybrids becomes possible.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 28, 2022
As he passed each gorgeous peony and peach blossom, every elegant chrysanthemum and lily, he heard horrified murmurs.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
Minutes later, a grateful customer gave her a bouquet of pink peonies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
It told me a vase of white peonies in my bedroom contained yellow chrysanthemums, and confidently misidentified a plate of poppadoms as tortilla chips.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2024
Nelson isn’t a purist: She grows a few of the daylilies and peonies, both of which she remembers fondly from her childhood in rural Wisconsin.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 14, 2023
It’s true that the insects are attracted to the sweet sticky sap produced by peonies.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 24, 2023
A flower crown of red, orange, and yellow roses and peonies sits atop her wavy, black hair.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
