topiary
[toh-pee-er-ee]Horticulture
- (of a plant) clipped or trimmed into fantastic shapes.
- of or relating to such trimming.
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- topiary work; the topiary art.
- a garden containing such work.
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Origin of topiary
1585–95; < Latin topiārius pertaining to landscape-gardening or to ornamental gardens, equivalent to topi(a) (plural) artificial landscape (< Greek tópia (singular topion), diminutive of tópos place) + -ārius -ary
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for topiary
Contemporary Examples
He took meeting after meeting with giddy Hollywood executives and pitched them his followup—a sci-fi epic called A Topiary.
‘Upstream Color,’ Shane Carruth’s Sci-Fi Drama, Is the Year’s Craziest Film (So Far)Marlow Stern
April 6, 2013
Real name Hector Monsegur, he helped the FBI level charges on U.K.-based team members Topiary and Kayla.
One of them was Topiary, an alleged leader of the LulzSec group.
Historical Examples
An affected admiration for Dutch topiary also became a fashion.
May I add that poodles ought not to be shaved with a safety-razor, but should be trimmed by a topiary expert?
Unlike those found in the gardens of Colonial days, they should be carefully clipped, sometimes for topiary effects.
Garden OrnamentsMary H. Northend
Through the great number of formal gardens laid out within a few years in America, the topiary art has had a certain revival.
Old-Time GardensAlice Morse Earle
There were bushes exhibiting fantastic examples of the topiary art, and here, too, was a sun-dial.
Bat WingSax Rohmer
topiary
- of, relating to, or characterized by the trimming or training of trees or bushes into artificial decorative animal, geometric, or other shapes
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- plural -aries
- topiary work
- a topiary garden
- the art of topiary
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Word Origin
C16: from French topiaire, from Latin topia decorative garden work, from Greek topion little place, from topos place
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
Word Origin and History for topiary
adj.
1590s, from Latin topiarius "of or pertaining to ornamental gardening," from topia "ornamental gardening," from Greek topia, plural of topion, originally "a field," diminutive of topos "place" (see topos). The noun is first recorded 1908, from the adjective.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper