posy

Etymology

It began as a variant of poesy,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} reflecting a pronunciation of that word in two syllables,^[2] a contracted form that the Shorter Oxford calls syncopated.^[5][9] That word is inherited from Middle English poesie,^[10] from Middle French poesie (“piece of poetry”),^[2] from Latin poēsis (“poetry, a poem”),^[2][3] from Ancient Greek ποίησις (poíēsis, “a making, composition, poetry”),^[11][3][10] from ποιέω (poiéō, “to make, compose”).^[11][3] The OED notes that the two spellings are now kept apart only in the sense "bunch of flowers".^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A short motto or line of verse, the sense of poesy that it first had: before 1450, in a text cited by the Middle English Dictionary.^[2][4] Barnhart dates the motto engraved inside a ring to 1533.^[12][3]

Semantic evolution

Such mottoes were engraved inside rings or on knives,^[7][5][8] and Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice mentions a ring whose posy was "Love me and leave me not".^[13] The sense "small bunch of flowers" follows before 1500, in Lancelot of Laik;^[2] Etymonline and Barnhart date it to the 1570s.^[11][3] Etymonline, Barnhart and Weekley link it with the language of flowers or with the custom of sending flowers with verses,^[11][3][8] and Skeat thought the flowers of a nosegay stood for a motto.^[7] From the 1560s a posy could also be a collection of poems or fine passages, an anthology,^[2][5] and until the mid-17th century it could also mean an emblem.^[2] Johnson (1755) gave both "a motto on a ring" and "a bunch of flowers".^[13] The word was in general dialect and colloquial use across Scotland, Ireland, England and America, with spellings such as posey and pooasy.^[14]

Timeline

• before 1450 – a short motto, originally a line of verse.^[2]
• before 1500 – a small bunch of flowers.^[2] Etymonline and Barnhart date this sense to the 1570s.^[11][3]
• 1533 – a motto engraved inside a ring.^[3]
• before 1565 – an emblem (obsolete by 1644).^[2]
• before 1569 – a collection of poetry or rhetoric.^[2]
• 1575 – poetry, poesy (obsolete by 1645).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small bunch of flowers; a nosegay or small bouquet: The bridesmaid carried a posy of violets.^[15][4][2]
2. (archaic) A short motto or line of verse, especially one engraved inside a ring.^[15][4][5]
3. (archaic) A collection of verse; an anthology.^[2][5]

Related words

• poesy
• poem
• poet
• poetry

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
11. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins