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orchidaceous

adjective
or·​chi·​da·​ceous | \ ˌȯr-kə-ˈdā-shəs How to pronounce orchidaceous (audio) \

Definition of orchidaceous

1 : of, relating to, or resembling the orchids
2 : showy, ostentatious
Did You Know? Example Sentences Learn More about orchidaceous

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Did You Know?

In its sense first used by botanists in the 1830s, orchidaceous means "belonging to the family Orchidaceae"-that is, to the orchid family, a very large family of flowering plants. While the basic shape of an orchid is simple-three petals with, on many orchids, an enlarged middle petal-there is no such thing as a typical orchid. Orchids range in size from very tiny flowers on inch-high plants to flowers a foot across, and they grow in habitats from tropical rain forests to semideserts. But when people use orchidaceous as a synonym for "flashy" in phrases like "orchidaceous writing," "orchidaceous colors," and "orchidaceous ladies," it's the colorful, showy tropical species they have in mind-species which, as Jacob Breynius, a 17th-century German botanist, put it, "surely excite our greatest admiration."

Examples of orchidaceous in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

 Stefano and Domenico looked to Donna Floria’s orchidaceous Belle Epoque beauty and famous clothes for aspects of their alta moda collection. — Hamish Bowles, Vogue, "Vogue’s Hamish Bowles on His Molto Alta Weekend in Palermo With Dolce & Gabbana," 11 July 2017

First Known Use of orchidaceous

1838, in the meaning defined at sense 1

History and Etymology for orchidaceous

New Latin Orchidaceae, family name (re-formation of earlier Orchideae, from orchid-, erroneously taken as the stem of Latin orchis "orchid" + -eae, feminine plural of Latin -eus -eous) + -ous — more at orchis

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