peony

plural peonies · alternative paeony · alternative obsolete pioney · alternative obsolete piony

1. A flowering plant of the genus Paeonia with large fragrant flowers.

   The root of the Male Peony fresh gathered has been found by experience to cure the falling-sickness.

   1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society, published 2007, page 219

   5 more examples

   There might ye ſee the pioney ſpread vvide, / The full-blovvn roſe, the ſhepherd and his laſs, / Lap-dog and lambkin vvith black ſtaring eyes, / And parrots vvith tvvin cherries in their beak.

   1785, William Cowper, “Book I. The Sofa.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 3

   'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

   Peony would keep away any kind of storms. Mugwort hung over doorways on Midsummer's Day, June 24, would keep off lightning, as St. John's-Wort would if gathered before sunrise on that day.

   1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 258

   Mr. Farzan’s narrow backyard in Brooklyn’s South Slope neighborhood is a lush, if slightly chaotic, oasis. There are Fuji apples, Meyer lemons, figs, peonies and avocados — although that’s far from a complete census of all that grows there.

   2023 September 29, Molly Fitzpatrick, “He’s the Pawpaw King of Brooklyn. (What’s a Pawpaw?)”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   The peony print on the pants may have been a nod to that flower’s importance in Chinese culture, where it is a symbol of beauty, wealth and happiness.

   2026 September 25, Vanessa Friedman, “At State Dinner for China’s Leader, Melania Trump Wears the Pants”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

2. A dark red colour.

   She was a fine and handsome girl—not handsomer than some others, possibly—but her mobile peony mouth and large innocent eyes added eloquence to colour and shape.

   1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume I, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC, phase the first (The Maiden), page 18