carnation

The story

1. Latin · derived fromcarō“flesh, meat”
2. Late Latin · derived fromcarnātiō“fleshiness”
3. Italian · derived fromcarnagione“flesh color”
4. Middle French · derived fromcarnation“flesh color, complexion”
5. English todaycarnation

From Middle French carnation (“flesh color, complexion”), either via Italian carnagione (“flesh color”) or directly from Late Latin carnātiō (“fleshiness”), from Latin carō (“flesh, meat”) + ātiō (“-ation”). As a flower and its color, possibly instead from corruption in French of coronation (“crowning, crowned thing”) under the influence of carnation, from the flower's supposed resemblance to a crown. By surface analysis, Latin carn- + -ate + -ion.

Words from the same roots