Meanings
plural polyanthuses · plural polyanthi
- A type of primula, apparently originally from a hybrid between the cowslip and the primrose, having many different-coloured flowers.First known use 17th c.
[T]he Hens all want to sit, the Primroses Polyanthuses &c crowd the Hedges; & a Rose Tree or two are quite full of Leaves.
1793 February 27, Hester Piozzi, Thraliana1 more example
No cottage in Coughton boasted taller hollyhocks, nor finer Michaelmas daisies in the autumn than Dame Magdalen’s almshouses; and even now, at this early season, well cared-for stocks, and rich polyanthuses might excite the envy of more scientific but less successful gardeners.
1842, [Katherine] Thomson, chapter X, in Widows and Widowers. A Romance of Real Life., volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, pages 227–228
Synonyms & antonyms
nounflorists' primroses; considered a complex hybrid derived from oxlip, cowslip, and common primrose
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Renaissance Latinpolyanthus
- Englishpolyanthus
From Renaissance Latin polyanthus, corresponding to poly- + Ancient Greek ἄνθος (ánthos, “flower”).
More words from Renaissance Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
polyanthus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polyanthus
“polyanthus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polyanthus. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “polyanthus,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polyanthus.
Source: polyanthus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.