Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various temperate orchids of the genus Orchis and related genera, having yellow or purple, sometimes spotted flowers.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any plant of the genus
Orchis ; anorchid
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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The term orchis comes from the Greek, meaning testicle.
October Bloom Day-New Friends And Old-Blog Action Day 2009 « Fairegarden 2009
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The handsome, large purple-fringed orchis is also found here.
Rural Hours 1887
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Of all the fragrant blossoms that haunt the woods, I know none so exquisite as that night-scented orchis which is called indifferently, the butterfly or the lily of the valley.
The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 2, January, 1851 Various
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He was a very unlovely man was Private Sim, especially when asleep, for at this time he opened his mouth very wide, and around it the busy flies were flitting, evidently taking it for the flower of some new kind of orchis or carnivorous plant, and they buzzed about and around it as if enjoying the fun of going as near as they could without quite getting into danger.
Middy and Ensign George Manville Fenn 1870
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A kind of orchis, and used, with its various appellations, "sensu obsc."
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Bishop's Cap, Dutchman's breeches, and showy orchis.
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Bishop's Cap, Dutchman's breeches, and showy orchis.
Pros and Cons of Wildflower Collection Marcus Walton 2009
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Exit orchis: A little action now would save our fast disappearing wildlife.
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[Revision of "Exit orchis," Wildlife 2: 2 (Aug 1940), 17.]
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Flowers were scarce, and there were not many orchids, but I noticed the fine white butterfly-orchis, Phalaenopsis grandiflora, or a species closely allied to it.
missanthropist commented on the word orchis
Greek Testicle.
July 9, 2008