sunflowern.
/ˈsʌnˌflaʊə/, U.S. /ˈsənˌflaʊər/ 1. † a. Either of two plants noted for their heliotropism (movement of flowers or leaves in response to the direction of the sun), Heliotropium europaeum and Crozophora tinctoria; = turnsole n. 2. Obsolete.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Boraginaceae (bugloss and allies) > [noun] > heliotropes
heliotropec1000
sunflower1562
turnsole1578
heliotropian1590
sun-seeker1847
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > names applied to various flowers
heliotropec1000
flower jaunette1423
helichrysum1551
sunflower1562
Armeria1578
hyacinth1578
pimpernel1578
vaccin1589
heliochryse1593
purple1604
sunflower1622
mayflower1626
starflower1629
bluebottle1648
pink1731
trumpet-flower1732
fly-wort1753
witches' thimbles1820
honey plant1824
black-eyed Susan1836
shell-flower1845
pincushion1847
pincushion flower1856
nightingale1862
garland-flower1866
paper-white1880
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 13v Because it turneth the leaues about wyth the sonne, it is called Heliotropion, that is, turned wyth the sonne, or sonne flower.
1664 G. Havers tr. T. Renaudot et al. Gen. Coll. Disc. Virtuosi France 194 Amongst Plants, the Lote or Nettle-tree, the Mari-gold and the Heliotrope or Sun-flower, follow the motion of the Sun.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Tornesol, Tournesol, or Turnsol, called also Heliotrope, and Sun-flower, and by the Botanists Ricinoides, a Plant whose Flower is said to follow the Motion of the Sun.
b. literary. In allusive and figurative contexts: a heliotropic plant as the type of something whose behaviour or actions are unavoidably guided by an external force or point of reference.In later use typically alluding to the common sunflower (see sense 2a), which exhibits heliotropism until its flowers are open.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > names applied to various flowers
heliotropec1000
flower jaunette1423
helichrysum1551
sunflower1562
Armeria1578
hyacinth1578
pimpernel1578
vaccin1589
heliochryse1593
purple1604
sunflower1622
mayflower1626
starflower1629
bluebottle1648
pink1731
trumpet-flower1732
fly-wort1753
witches' thimbles1820
honey plant1824
black-eyed Susan1836
shell-flower1845
pincushion1847
pincushion flower1856
nightingale1862
garland-flower1866
paper-white1880
1622 S. Ward All in All 32 Our soules were directed towards him, and fixed on him, as the Sunne-flowre towards the Sunne.
1652 E. Benlowes Theophila iv. xv. 53 Ye Twins of Light, as Sun-flow'rs be enclin'd To th' Sun of Righteousnes.
1694 Brief Display French Counsels 4 The People adore, and like the Sun-flower, turn toward the Glitter of Prosperity.
1794 W. Blake Ah! Sun-flower in Songs of Experience in Compl. Poetry & Prose (1982) 25 Ah, Sun-flower! weary of time, Who countest the steps of the Sun.
1831 T. Moore Summer Fête 24 Like sun-flowers, by the sides of brooks, Turn'd to the sun.
1852 F. W. Robertson Serm. 4th Ser. xl. 305 Christian life is as the turning of the sunflower to the Sun.
1963 Business Hist. Rev. 37 121 Moreover, economies are devious creatures with many ways of adjusting to relative factor scarcities—simple factor substitution, trade,..and the subtle tendency of popular taste to turn its face, like the sunflower to the sun, toward abundance.
2016 Bismarck (N. Dakota) Tribune (Nexis) 19 Aug. a8 Scandal of one sort or another may overtake Hillary Clinton, who like a sunflower with the sun, has a tropism toward this sort of thing.
2.
a. Originally (more fully annual sunflower, common sunflower, †Indian sunflower): a tall annual plant having large flower heads with bright yellow ray florets surrounding dark disc florets, Helianthus annuus (family Asteraceae) ( Compositae), native to North America but widely cultivated elsewhere for its showy flowers and oil-rich seeds. In later use also (frequently with distinguishing word): any of the other plants of the genus Helianthus. Occasionally also: a flower head of one of these plants.The resemblance of the flower head to an image of the sun is the most likely reason for the application of the name to these plants, but they also exhibit some degree of heliotropism (cf. sense 1).Occasionally also in figurative and allusive contexts with reference to the height of the common sunflower. Cf. also sense 1b.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > composite flowers > sunflower
golden flower of Peru1578
Indian sun1578
girasola1586
flower of the sun1597
marigold of Peru1597
marigold sunflower1597
sunflower1597
turnsole1725
sun-seeker1847
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 614 Some haue called it Corona Solis, and Sol Indianus, the Indian Sun flower; other haue called it Chrysanthemum Peruuianum, or the golden flower of Peru; in English the flower of the Sunne, or Sunne flower.
1688 P. Pett Happy Future State of Eng. 74 Popery can never run up to any height more then the Sun-flower without a supporter.
1705 N. Tate tr. A. Cowley Of Plants iv, in A. Cowley Wks. (1711) III. 395 The Sun-Flow'r, thinking 'twas for him foul Shame To nap by Day-light, strove t' excuse the Blame; It was not Sleep that made him nod, he said, But too great Weight and Largeness of his Head.
1785 T. Martyn in tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xxvi. 401 The annual Sun-flower..is a flower of wonderful magnificence.
1824 W. Irving Tales of Traveller II. 286 Gigantic sun-flowers lolled their broad jolly faces over the fences.
1870 Amer. Naturalist 4 581 It is a popular belief that the sunflower always turns its flowers to the sun, but in reality so numerous are the exceptions to this rule in our garden sunflowers and in our common wild species of the East, that few observing people regard it doubtless as otherwise than an idle whim.
1908 Amer. Botanist 14 97 The true sunflowers, members of the genus Helianthus are supposed to include both annual and perennial species, but..there are very few of the latter among them.
1925 D. H. Lawrence in Cal. Mod. Lett. Dec. 269 The camera will visualize the sunflower far more perfectly than Van Gogh can.
1979 Kokomo (Indiana) Tribune 25 Oct. 33/2 He has 23 acres of sunflowers planted on his 150 acre farm.
2010 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 14 Sept. d2/2 Two widespread species, the common sunflower and prairie sunflower, have combined at least three times to give rise to three hybrid species: the sand sunflower, the desert sunflower, and the puzzle sunflower.
2012 Sunday Mirror (Nexis) 14 Oct. 31 Mixed lilies and sunflowers were summer's most popular bouquet.
b. Chiefly with distinguishing word: any of various other plants of the family Asteraceae which have flower heads with yellow ray florets.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > composite flowers > sunflower > allied flowers
sunflower1731
helianthus1785
1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Corona Solis Another Plant or two..very nearly ally'd to the Sun-Flower... 19. Chrysanthemum; Helenii folio... Dwarf American Sun-Flower... 20. Chrysanthemum,..Doronici folio,..Dwarf-Peach-colour'd American Sun-flower.
1742 P. Collinson Let. 3 Mar. in J. Bartram Corr. (1992) 185 Those beautiful small yellow flowering Sunflowers, Obeliscothecas, or Crysanthemums (all names nearly Synonymous) which are Biennials.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. App. Rudbeckia,..a genus of plants, called..in English the Dwarf-sun-flower.
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 328 Sun-flower, Willow-leaved, Helenia.
1814 J. Bigelow Florula Bostoniensis 204 Coreopsis trichosperma. Mich. Tickseed Sun flower.
1828 C. S. Rafinesque Med. Flora U.S. I. 235 Helenium Autumnale... Vulgar Names: Sneezeweed, Sneezewort, Swamp Sunflower, False Sunflower, Yellow Star, Oxeye., Yellow Star, Oxeye.
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 310 Sun-flower. Corn marigold. Chrysanthemum segetum.
1856 W. J. Hooker & T. B. Salter Bromfield's Flora Vectensis 253 I[nula] Helenium..Velvet Dock. Wild Sun-flower.
1870 Gardeners' Chron. 10 Sept. 1213 The compass plant, a wild sunflower of the western prairies.
1917 Amer. Midland Naturalist 5 121 Heliopsis scabra Dunal. Ox-eye. False sunflower.
1963 J. J. Craighead et al. Field Guide Rocky Mountain Wildflowers 221 Alpine Sunflower. Hymenoxys grandiflora... Other names: Mountain Sunflower, Alpine Goldflower, [etc.].
1990 M. Sutter Easy-to-Do Flower Patterns for Woodcarvers 16/1 Called the Golden Flower of the Incas as well as Mexican Sunflower, this plant, which resembles our familiar sunflower but is in a separate genus, apparently was known both to the Incas of Peru and the Mayas of Mexico.
2012 Castanea 77 70/2 Heliopsis helianthoides..Sweet False sunflower.
c. literary. Used in figurative or allusive contexts with reference to a woman of dazzling or radiant beauty. rare after mid 19th cent.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > splendour > [noun] > radiance or brilliance > person
sunflower1812
1812 Trick for Trick ii. ii. 34 Your daughter will but prove the Hyacinth of Constancy, as she is the Sunflower of Beauty.
1823 Ld. Byron Island ii. x. 29 Neuha, the sun-flower of the Island daughters.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xii. 101 There are garden-ornaments, as big as brass warming-pans, that are fit to stare the sun itself out of countenance. Miss Sedley was not of the sun-flower sort.
1928 Bridgeport (Connecticut) Telegram 16 Mar. 22/8 It is up to the girl to try to be a gaudy sunflower that will catch the masculine eye, while she still remains a shrinking violet at heart.
1987 D. Bellos tr. G. Perec Life: User's Man. lvii. 268 She was a sunflower in midsummer, he was dry and shrivelled like an old lemon left on the kitchen shelf.
a. More fully little sunflower, small sunflower. Any of various plants of the genus Helianthemum (family Cistaceae); a rock rose or sun rose. Obsolete.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > rock-rose and allies
sunflower1597
rock rose1731
rock cistus1741
helianthemum1822
sun rose1822
1597 J. Gerard Herball iii. iv. 1102 Valerius Cordus nameth it Helianthemum, and Solis flos, or Sunne flower.
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum v. lxxxiv. 655 Helianthemum vulgare, sive Chamæcistus flore luteo & Flos solis quorundam. The ordinary yellow Dwarfe Cistus or small Sunflower.
1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Helianthemum Dwarf Citrus, or little Sun-Flower.
1785 M. Cutler in Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 1 457 American Cistus. Little Sunflower. Blossoms yellow, and the disk commonly turned towards the sun from morning until night.
1829 W. Cobbett Eng. Gardener vii. §440 Cistus, common dwarf, or little sunflower. Lat. C. Helianthemum.
b. The marigold ( Calendula officinalis). Obsolete. rare.Cf. earlier sun's flower n. at sun n.1 Compounds 5d.
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a1841 L. Hooper Lady's Bk. Flowers & Poetry (1842) 148 The Sun-flower was formerly called Marigold also, as the Marigold was termed Sun-flower.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 1110/2 Sunflower, Helianthus; also..Calendula officinalis.
c. English regional (Devon). The star of Bethlehem ( Ornithogalum umbellatum). Obsolete. rare.
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1882 H. Friend Gloss. Devonshire Plant Names 52 Sunflower, Ornithogalum umbellatum L., the Star of Bethlehem. It is also called ‘Lady-eleven-o'Clock’, &c.
d. English regional. The pimpernel ( Anagallis arvensis). Obsolete. rare.
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1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names 459 Sunflower,..(4) Anagallis arvensis, L.—S.-W. Cumb.
Compounds
C1. General attributive and parasynthetic (in sense 2a), as sunflower plant, sunflower leaf, sunflower-leaved, etc.
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1781 S. Fullmer Young Gardener's Best Compan. 156 Selphium—Bastard-Chrysanthemum—Three-leaved—Laciniated-leaved—Perfoliated-leaved—Asteriscus, or Perennial Sun-flower-leaved.
?1794 R. Kirwan in Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 5 Science 159 In the stalks of Turkey wheat or maize they found 7 per cwt. of earth, in sun-flower plant 3,7.
1829 Arcana Sci. 227 The sunflower leaves perspire more matter than any other plant known to exist.
1844 Farmer's Mag. 9 275/1 Samples of the fibres of sunflower stalks.
1888 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 10 701 The low white cottages, glittering church-spire, and sunflower fields of one of the Cossack villages.
1918 W. Cather My Ántonia (1988) i. xviii. 82 The buffalo-peas were blooming in pink and purple masses along the roadside, and the larks, perched on last year's sunflower stalks, were singing straight at the sun.
1946 Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune 24 Sept. 5/2 These [bags] are available in a wide range of colors, running through the coco browns, sand beiges, tapestry red, Gobelin blues and sunflower golds.
1991 J. Diski Happily ever After xviii. 201 The rich greens of vines and olives had gradually replaced the wheat and sunflower crops of northern France.
2003 J. Eastman Bk. Field & Roadside 284 Carrot beetles (Ligyrus gibbosus) also feed as larvae in sunflower roots.
2016 Daily Mirror (Nexis) 6 July (Features section) Youngsters can create a sunflower plant with our free kit.
C2.
sunflower oil n. a pale yellow oil extracted from sunflower seeds, used esp. in cookery.
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the world > food and drink > food > fat or oil > [noun] > vegetable oil or margarine
palm oil1625
vegetable oil1651
butter of mace1694
Negro-oil1753
sunflower oil1768
Galam butter1782
vegetable butter1790
vegetable fat1797
winter oil1811
butter substitute1834
red palm oil1836
butter oil1844
shea butter1847
palm butter1848
vegetable lard1859
palm-kernel oil1863
butterine1866
margarine1873
oleomargarine1873
bosch1879
oleo1884
oleo oil1884
vegetable shortening1892
Nucoline1894
almond butter1895
nut butter1896
Nutter1906
marge1919
Maggie Ann1931
sun oil1937
vanaspati1949
maggie1971
canola oil1982
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > other plant-derived oils
oil de baya1398
oil roseta1400
alkitranc1400
laurinec1400
oil of spicac1400
seed oil1400
rape oil1420
nut-oil?c1425
masticine?1440
oil de rose?1440
oil of myrtine?a1450
gingellya1544
rose oil1552
alchitrean1562
oil of spike1577
oil of ben1594
myrtle oil1601
sesamus1601
sampsuchine1616
oil of walnuts1622
rape1641
oil of rhodium1649
rapeseed oil1652
neroli1676
oil of mace1681
spirit of scurvy-grass1682
beech-oil1716
poppy oil1737
castor oil1746
oil of sassafras1753
orange-peel oil1757
wood-oil1759
bergamot1766
sunflower oil1768
Russia oil1773
oil castor1779
tung-yu1788
poppy-seed oil1799
cocoa butter1801
sassafras oil1801
phulwara1805
oil of wine1807
grass oil1827
oil of marjoram1829
cajuput oil1832
essence of mustarda1834
picamar1835
spurge oil1836
oenanthic ether1837
tea oil1837
capnomor1838
cinnamon-oil1838
oil of mustard1838
orange-flower oil1838
resinein1841
mustard oil1844
myrrhol1845
styrol1845
oenanthol1847
shea butter1847
wintergreen1847
gaultheria oil1848
ginger-grass oil.1849
nutmeg oil1849
pine oil1849
peppermint oil1850
cocoa fat1851
orange oil1853
neem oil1856
poonga oil1857
xanthoxylene1857
crab-oil1858
illupi oil1858
Shanghai oil1861
stand oil1862
mustard-seed oil1863
carap oilc1865
cocum butter or oilc1865
Kurung oil1866
muduga oil1866
pichurim oil1866
serpolet1866
sumbul oil1868
sesame oil1870
niger oil1872
summer yellow1872
olibene1873
patchouli oil1875
pilocarpene1876
styrolene1881
tung oil1881
becuiba tallow1884
soy oil1884
tea-seed oil1884
eucalyptus1885
sage oil1888
hop-oil1889
cotton-seed oil1891
lemon oil1896
palmarosa oil1897
illipe butter1904
hydnocarpus oil1905
tung1911
niger seed oil1917
sun oil1937
vanaspati1949
fennel oil-
1768 Pennsylvania Gaz. 6 Oct. 2/3 The sun-flower oil may prove equally valuable with the best Florence oil for diet or medicine.
1898 Ann. Archæol. Rep. 1897–8 (Canada) 121 If I had shown any willingness during the anointing ceremony, my head would have received its portion of the sacred sunflower oil.
1977 C. Conran M. Guérard's Cuisine Minceur (1981) 22 Some people may prefer to substitute sunflower oil for the oil of arachide.
2015 S. Crossan One 162 I batter the chicken flat, flour it for schnitzel, and fry it in hot sunflower oil.
sunflower seed n. any of the edible, oil-rich grey seeds of a sunflower; the fruit (an achene with a thin, hard shell) containing such a seed; (as a mass noun) such seeds or fruits collectively.
ΚΠ
1685 tr. T. Willis London Pract. Physick 123 Sun-flower Seeds six Ounces.
1789 Trans. Soc. Arts (ed. 2) 2 113 Fifteen bushels of Sun Flower Seed.
1832 R. Sharp Diary 21 Apr. (1997) 368 This forenoon I was planting some Potatoes, and sowing some Sun Flower Seeds.
1983 D. Dunnett Dolly & Bird of Paradise ix. 101 The parrot never looked round from the telly... Sunflower seeds and old films..what a nice life it had.
2013 Guardian 2 Nov. (Cook Suppl.) 4/1 For the stuffing, combine the paneer, cheddar, sunflower seeds, cashews and raisins with the chillies and coriander.
Sunflower State n. originally and chiefly U.S. (a nickname for) the state of Kansas.
ΚΠ
1881 St. Louis (Missouri) Globe-Democrat 28 Sept. 4/5 People speak of Kansas as the Sunflower State.
1904 Minneapolis Times 7 June 6 The floods in Kansas are subsiding. There was danger for a time that the Sunflower state would grow a crop of pond lilies.
1965 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 2 Sept. (1970) 315 It was a pleasant journey back to the Ranch, flying over the flat, rich lands of Kansas..sunflowers everywhere, as big as salad plates. You can see why it's called the Sunflower State.
2015 Washburn Rev. (Washburn University) (Nexis) 27 Aug. 1 He then left the Sunflower State and moved on to South Carolina to Limestone College.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1562- over-earnest
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