poinsettia
Americannoun
-
poinsettias
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of poinsettia
1830–40; < New Latin, named after J. R. Poinsett (1799–1851), American minister to Mexico, who discovered the plant there in 1828; see -ia
Explanation
The bright red potted plants you see everywhere at Christmastime are called poinsettias. This plant is so commonly associated with the holiday that it's also known as Christmas Star. Poinsettias come from Mexico, and they get their name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the United States' First Minister to Mexico in the 1820s. Besides unsuccessfully attempting to acquire new U.S. territory from Mexico, Poinsett was an amateur botanist who admired the brilliant red and green Flor de Nochebuena, or Christmas Eve flowers. His success lay in introducing the poinsettia to North America.
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:
For many of us, our first foray into foliage begins at Christmas when we are gifted a poinsettia.
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2026
He moved the family business to Encinitas, where he bought 67 acres near the railroad and Interstate 5 and planted so many patented poinsettia plants that passersby were treated to crimson waves come November.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
Ecke started growing and selling his poinsettias in a field on Sunset Boulevard but moved to Encinitas around 1923, where Ecke Ranch became the largest poinsettia producer in the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2025
The signature poinsettia tree, with benches for family picture-taking, was a beacon of wonder.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2024
Red velvet ribbons were tied in prettily drooping bows around the balusters of the central staircase and great urns of scarlet poinsettia flanked the doorways.
From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood
To keep them lasting longer than your New Years resolutions, you should add plant food to your poinsettias each month, Adam says.
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2026
Cathy Penrod said in the days before her death, her cousin had placed poinsettias on the graves of William and Polly Penrod’s sixth generation descendants — her generation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2025
For 50-plus years, Weidner’s Gardens in Encinitas has specialized in ‘growing color,’ from begonias to poinsettias.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
How about a Dream House-themed Christmas, with poinsettias so vividly pink they would make Barbie swoon?
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
Lupita looked away from them to the poinsettias on the draperies as she relaxed in her chair.
From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty
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.
