Gillyflower
Gillyflower , noun
[Old English gilofre, gilofer, clove, Old French girofre, girofle, French girofle: compare French giroflée gillyflower, from girofle, Greek {not transcribed} clove tree; {not transcribed} nut + {not transcribed} leaf, akin to English foliage. Compare Caryophyllus, July-flower.]
1.
(Botany) A name given by old writers to the clove pink (Dianthus Caryophyllus) but now to the common stock (Matthiola incana), a cruciferous plant with showy and fragrant blossoms, usually purplish, but often pink or white.
2.
A kind of apple, of a roundish conical shape, purplish red color, and having a large core.
Collocations (6)
Clove gillyflower , the clove pink.
Marsh gillyflower , the ragged robin (Lychnis Flos-cuculi).
Queen's gillyflower or Winter gillyflower , damewort.
Sea gillyflower , the thrift (Armeria vulgaris).
Wall gillyflower , the wallflower (Cheiranthus Cheiri).
Water gillyflower , the water violet.