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
His paper “completely upended the poinsettia business,” the Hustle newsletter reported in 2021.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
It’s where Kobayashi still does her breeding work, where she hopes to someday create a golden poinsettia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
The first was a photo of a guitar next to a fire and Christmas poinsettia.
From New York Times ● Dec. 28, 2023
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
They just can’t let go of the idea that poinsettias are for Christmas.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
Your poinsettias will do fine in the house or on a sheltered porch, as long as they don’t experience big temperature swings like sitting next to a heater.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
Storm said he believes some people are buying more autumnal-colored poinsettias just for Thanksgiving time, but Kobayashi is less optimistic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
The girls were going over to a Greenpoint factory which needed hands for winter orders, poinsettias and artificial holly wreaths.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
