Etymologically
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sunflower

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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