Papaver
/pəˈpeɪ.vər/noun
A genus of flowering plants that includes the poppy.
Did you know?Latin papaver was the classical name for the poppy, and many scholars connect it to an old nursery word for soft food or porridge, which fits the poppy’s milky sap and the plant’s association with sleep and medicine.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pap-
“A nursery root associated with soft food, mush, or childish speech”
Proto-Italic
Italic
*papāwer
“An inherited plant name for the poppy”
Classical Latin
Latin
papaver
“Poppy; poppy plant”
Late Latin
Latin
papāver
“Poppy, especially as the common botanical term”
Old French
Old French
pavot
“Poppy”
Middle English
English
poppy
“The poppy plant; later also the flower itself”