posy

[ poh-zee ]

/ ˈpoʊ zi /

noun, plural po·sies.

a flower, nosegay, or bouquet.

Archaic. a brief motto or the like, as one inscribed within a ring.

Nearby words

postvalvar, postvertebral, postviral syndrome, postvocalic, postwar, posy, posé, pot, pot arch, pot calling the kettle black, pot calling the kettle black, the

Origin of posy

1400–50; late Middle English; syncopated variant of poesy

Can be confused

poesy posey posy

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

Examples from the Web for posies

The Queen was presented with posies of flowers by children as she left the chapel.
Sophie Dazzles in Electric Blue at Royal's Easter Service|Tom Sykes|March 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Some of these posies and inscriptions are very appropriate and tender; others are quaint and whimsical.
Finger-Ring Lore|William Jones
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries posies were generally placed outside the ring.
Finger-Ring Lore|William Jones
The girls carried their "posies," as they called them, in their neatly folded pocket-handkerchiefs.
O. T.|Hans Christian Andersen

But you have no idea how they brightened up, and how glad they looked when they took the posies.
Harper's Young People, April 12, 1881|Various
I did find some posies, all yellow and round and—posies runned away, too.
The Sun Maid|Evelyn Raymond

British Dictionary definitions for posies

posy

/ (ˈpəʊzɪ) /

noun plural -sies

a small bunch of flowers or a single flower; nosegay

archaic a brief motto or inscription, esp one on a trinket or a ring

Word Origin for posy

C16: variant of poesy

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