rhododendron

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromῥοδόδενδρον“oleander”
2. Latin · borrowed fromrhododendron“oleander”
3. English todayrhododendron

The obsolete sense derives from Latin rhododendron (“oleander”), from Ancient Greek ῥοδόδενδρον (rhodódendron, “oleander”), from ῥόδον (rhódon, “rose”) + δένδρον (déndron, “tree”). The modern sense comes through the intermediary of the genus name Rhododendron, not closely related taxonomically, but with similar flowers to those of oleander.