Meanings
carnation1
plural carnations
- A type of Eurasian plant widely cultivated for its flowers.
- countableuncountablebiologyoriginally, Dianthus caryophyllus
- countableuncountablebiologyother members of genus Dianthus and hybrids
Synonyms: clove pink, cottage pink, Dianthus plumarius, Dianthus caryophyllus
- countableuncountableThe type of flower they bear, originally flesh-coloured, but since hybridizing found in a variety of colours.
- countableuncountableA scarlet colour.
- archaicnot comparableOf a human flesh color.
Carnation2
- A city in King, Washington, United States.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounother members of genus Dianthus and hybrids
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivepink or pinkish
nounEurasian plant with pink to purple-red spice-scented usually double flowers; widely cultivated in many varieties and many colors
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latincarō“flesh, meat”
- Late Latincarnātiō“fleshiness”
- Italiancarnagione“flesh color”
- Middle Frenchcarnation“flesh color, complexion”
- Englishcarnation
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.
More words from Middle French, Italian, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans angelier
- angelierflower
Arabic قَرَنْفُل, قَرَنْفُل
- قَرَنْفُل (qaranful)plant
- قَرَنْفُل (qaranful)flower
Basque krabelin
- krabelinplant
Bulgarian карамфил, карамфил
- карамфил (karamfil)plant
- карамфил (karamfil)flower
Catalan clavell, clavellina
- clavellplant
- clavellinaplant
- clavellflower
Chinese Cantonese 康乃馨
- 康乃馨 (hong¹ naai⁵ hing¹)flower
Chinese Mandarin 粉紅色 /粉红色, 康乃馨
- 粉紅色 /粉红色 (fěnhóngsè)rosy pink colour
- 康乃馨 (kāngnǎixīn)plant
- 康乃馨 (kāngnǎixīn)flower
- 粉紅色的 /粉红色的 (fěnhóngsè de)colour
Czech karafiát, hvozdík
- karafiátplant
- hvozdíkplant
- karafiátflower
Danish nellike, nellike
- nellikeplant
- nellikeflower
Dutch carnatie, vleeskleur
- carnatierosy pink colour
- vleeskleurrosy pink colour
- anjerplant
- anjelierplant
- genoffelplant
- anjerflower
- anjelierflower
- carnatiecolour
- vleeskleurigcolour
Esperanto dianto, dianto
- diantoplant
- diantoflower
Estonian nelk
- nelkflower
Finnish neilikanpunainen, tarhaneilikka
- neilikanpunainenrosy pink colour
- tarhaneilikkaplant
- neilikkaflower
- heleänpunainencolour
French incarnat, œillet
- incarnatrosy pink colour
- œilletplant
- œilletflower
- incarnatcolour
German Gartennelke, Nelke
- Gartennelkeplant
- Nelkeplant
- Nelkeflower
Greek γαρυφαλλιά, γαρύφαλλο
- γαρυφαλλιά (garyfalliá)plant
- γαρύφαλλο (garýfallo)flower
Hebrew צִפֹּרֶן
- צִפֹּרֶן (tzippóren)flower
Hungarian szegfű
- szegfűflower
Indonesian bunga anyelir, bunga teluki
- bunga anyelirflower
- bunga telukiflower
Italian garofano, garofano
- garofanoplant
- garofanoflower
Japanese カーネーション
- カーネーション (kānēshon)flower
Korean 카네이션, 카네이션
- 카네이션 (kaneisyeon)plant
- 카네이션 (kaneisyeon)flower
Lithuanian gvazdikas
- gvazdikasplant
Malay bunga teluki
- bunga telukiflower
Māori kāneihana, kanehana
- kāneihanaflower
- kanehanaflower
Norwegian Bokmål nellik, nellik
- nellikplant
- nellikflower
Persian میخک
- میخک (mixak)flower
Polish goździk, goździk
- goździkplant
- goździkflower
Portuguese cravo, cravo
- cravoplant
- cravoflower
Romanian garoafă, garoafă
- garoafăplant
- garoafăflower
- rozcolour
Russian теле́сный, гвозди́ка
- теле́сный (telésnyj)rosy pink colour
- гвозди́ка (gvozdíka)plant
- гвозди́ка (gvozdíka)flower
- теле́сный (telésnyj)colour
Slovak hrebíček
- hrebíčekflower
Spanish clavel, clavel
- clavelplant
- clavelflower
Swedish nejlika
- nejlikaflower
Tagalog klabel, klabel
- klabelplant
- klabelflower
Thai คาร์เนชั่น
- คาร์เนชั่น (kaa-nee-chân)flower
Turkish karanfil, karanfil
- karanfilplant
- karanfilflower
Ukrainian гвоздика
- гвоздика (hvozdyka)plant
Vietnamese cẩm chướng, cẩm chướng
- cẩm chướngplant
- cẩm chướngflower
Yiddish נעגעלע, גוואָזדיקע
- נעגעלע (negele)plant
- גוואָזדיקע (gvozdike)plant
- נעגעלע (negele)flower
- גוואָזדיקע (gvozdike)flower
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with carnation
Anagrams
Cite this entry
carnation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carnation
“carnation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carnation. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “carnation,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carnation.
Source: carnation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.