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sunflower

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Etymology and origin of the English word sunflower

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound, Calque
First attested
1562 William Turner's Herball, second part
Ultimate origin
New Latin flōs sōlis
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English sun
English sunflower
From the same root
English sunrise ← sun
English sunscreen ← sun

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈsʌn.flaʊ.ə/[1]
  • US: /ˈsʌn.flaʊ.əɹ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English sun + flower,[2][3][4] after New Latin flōs sōlis (“flower of the sun”), recorded from 1551 or earlier.[2][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A plant whose flowers turn to follow the sun, especially the heliotrope: 1562, in the second part of William Turner's Herball.[2] Etymonline dates the word to the 1560s, in the sense "heliotrope, any sun-following flower".[3]

Semantic evolution

The name first belonged to Old World plants whose flowers or leaves turn with the sun.[2][3] The American plant Helianthus, brought to Europe by the Spaniards in 1510, received the name in the 1590s, from the look of its flower heads;[3] the OED's first record of this sense is Gerard's Herball of 1597, which also used little sunflower for the rock rose.[2][6] Writers from 1622 used the sun-following plant as a figure for anything guided by an outside force, and, rarely from 1812, for a woman of radiant beauty.[2] In regional English the name was given to other flowers that open in sunshine, the star of Bethlehem in Devon and the pimpernel elsewhere.[2] Kansas has been called the Sunflower State since 1881.[3]

Timeline

  • 1562 – a plant whose flowers turn with the sun, such as the heliotrope, in Turner's Herball (obsolete by 1728).[2][3]
  • 1597 – the tall American plant Helianthus annuus, in Gerard's Herball; also the rock rose (obsolete).[2][6]
  • 1622 – figurative, something whose actions are guided by an outside force.[2]
  • 1731 – any of various other plants of the daisy family with yellow ray florets.[2]
  • 1812 – figurative, a woman of radiant beauty (rare after the mid 19th century).[2]
  • 1881 – the Sunflower State, Kansas.[3]
  • 1882 – in Devon, the star of Bethlehem.[2]
  • 1886 – in regional English, the pimpernel.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A tall plant of the genus Helianthus, especially the common sunflower, Helianthus annuus, native to America, with very large flower heads of yellow ray florets and edible seeds: A row of sunflowers grew along the fence.[7][6][2]
  2. Any of various other plants that look like it or whose flowers open in sunshine, such as the rock rose or the pot marigold.[6][2]
  3. A strong orange-yellow colour.[6]
  4. (obsolete, 1562–1728) The heliotrope or another plant whose flowers turn with the sun.[2][6]

Word family

  • Mexican sunflower
  • Sunflower State

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 q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Sunflower.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/sunflower. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·