Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A very large genus of polypetalous exogenous plants, the type of the natural order Begoniaceæ.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A genus of plants, mostly of tropical America, many species of which are grown as ornamental plants. The leaves are curiously one-sided, and often exhibit brilliant colors.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A taxonomic genus within the family Begoniaceae — the begonias.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of numerous plants of the genus Begonia grown for their attractive glossy asymmetrical leaves and colorful flowers in usually terminal cymes or racemes

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Named after Michael Begon (1683-1710) by botanist Carl von Linnaeus (1707-1778).

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