passionflower

See also: Passionflower, passion flower, Passion flower, and passion-flower

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Calque of Italian fior della Passione or Latin flōs Passiōnis; after the appearance and number of its various parts, thought to be symbolic of Christ's passion.

Pronunciation

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Noun

passionflower (plural passionflowers)

  1. Any of very many vines, in North America and elsewhere, of the genus Passiflora that bear edible fruit called passion fruit, and showy flowers of a structure symbolic of the Passion of Christ.
    • 1819, Robert Southey, chapter XXXIV, in History of Brazil, 3rd part, London: […] [William Pople] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […], →OCLC, page 185:
      The Priests observed frequent fasts, and abstained at all times from certain animals and fruits, especially from the Granadilla, the fruit of the Passion-flower, because, say the lying Jesuits, of the mysteries which are signified in that marvellous blossom: the people also were frequently required to fast.
  2. The flower of this plant.

Translations

References

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