gil·ly·flow·er

(jĭl′ē-flou′ər)

Any of several plants having fragrant flowers, especially the carnation, stock, or wallflower.

[Alteration (influenced by flower) of Middle English gilofre, from Old French gilofre, girofle, clove, from Late Latin gariofilum, from Greek karuophullon : karuon, nut; see kar- in Indo-European roots + phullon, leaf; see bhel- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

gillyflower

(ˈdʒɪlɪˌflaʊə) or

gilliflower

1. (Plants) any of several plants having fragrant flowers, such as the stock and wallflower

2. (Plants) an archaic name for carnation

[C14: changed (through influence of flower) from gilofre, from Old French girofle, from Medieval Latin, from Greek karuophullon clove tree, from karuon nut + phullon leaf]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

gil•ly•flow•er

or gil•li•flow•er

(ˈdʒɪl iˌflaʊ ər)

n.

1. any of several pinks of the genus Dianthus.

2. any of various other usu. fragrant flowers, esp. a stock, Matthiola incana.

[1300–50; alter. (by association with flower) of Middle English gilofre, geraflour < Old French gilofre, girofle < Latin caryophyllum < Greek karyóphyllon clove (káryo(n) nut + phýllon leaf)]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	gillyflower - any of several Old World plants cultivated for their brightly colored flowers stock flower - a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms genus Matthiola, Matthiola - genus of Old World plants grown as ornamentals brompton stock, Matthiola incana - European plant with racemes of sweet-scented flowers; widely cultivated as an ornamental
	2.	gillyflower - Eurasian plant with pink to purple-red spice-scented usually double flowers; widely cultivated in many varieties and many colors carnation, clove pink, Dianthus caryophyllus garden pink, pink - any of various flowers of plants of the genus Dianthus cultivated for their fragrant flowers

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References in classic literature

"Well, a booky as big almost as a haystack; I have put up two bottles of the gillyflower water for Mrs.

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An' to think as he might ha' Mary Burge, an' be took partners, an' be a big man wi' workmen under him, like Mester Burge--Dolly's told me so o'er and o'er again--if it warna as he's set's heart on that bit of a wench, as is o' no more use nor the gillyflower on the wall.

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Meanwhile, her new Mistress of the Robes is Diana Rigg (Doctor Who fans will be in orbit to see Clara Oswald and Winifred Gillyflower back together again).

THERE GOES MY BABY; choice Our heads-up on the must-see shows The Hanover dynasty returns to our screens with a new addition, says Claire Murphy y o wwaa

Jenna and Dame Diana know each other already after the veteran actress played Winifred Gillyflower in the Doctor Who episode, The Crimson Horror.

Our right royal rows prove the honeymoon is over; Jenna Coleman promises lots of fireworks between Victoria and Albert as hit drama returns

As sci-fi fans might remember, Diana Rigg played Winifred Gillyflower with Jenna Coleman in Doctor Who's The Crimson Horror.

THRONE IN AT THE DEEP END; VICTORIA'S GOT A BABY & MEDDLING ALBERT TO HANDLE

He was born in Worcestershire in 1749, teapot and the Gillyflower inscribed "Estimate PS the son of a local rector, the Rev Richard Turner of Comberton.

Rev's white and blue is up for sale; a rare chance for collectors to acquire a new piece of caughley pottery

Repetitions and retrains become the means of exposing gaps and fissures in a mind's-or a community's-civilized controls, in poems whose psychological complexities recall Browning, while their formal and narrative conventions look to both Anglo-Scottish balladry and to English and continental medieval verse ("The Wind," "The Gillyflower of Gold," "Concerning Geffray Teste Noire," "Two Red Roses Across the Moon," "The Tune of Seven Towers").

Taking back the Ballad: Swinburne in the 1860s