Amaryllis
/ˌæm.əˈrɪl.ɪs/noun
A bulbous flowering plant with large, showy trumpet-shaped blooms.
Did you know?Amaryllis entered modern botany through pastoral poetry: in classical Greek, *Amaryllis* was a literary name for a shepherdess, not originally a plant name at all.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
Ἀμαρυλλίς (Amaryllís)
“A literary shepherdess’s name used in pastoral poetry”
1st Century BCE–1st Century CE
Latin
Amaryllis
“A borrowed poetic name in Roman literary tradition”
16th–17th Century
Latin/European botanical
Amaryllis
“Applied by botanists to a showy flowering plant”
Modern English
English
amaryllis
“A bulbous ornamental plant with large trumpet-shaped flowers”