camellia
/kəˈmiːli.ə/ noun, proper noun
Forms camellias
- noun Any plant of the genus Camellia, shrubs and small trees native to Asia; Camellia japonica is the most popular as a garden plant; Camellia sinensis is the tea plant.
- proper noun A suburb of Sydney in the Parramatta council area, New South Wales, Australia.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from translingual Camellia, named after Moravian botanist Joseph Kamel (‘Camellus’) (1661–1706). The Czech surname Kamel is a variant of Kamil.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An Asiatic genus of small shrubs, often with shining leaves and showy flowers. Camelia Japonica is much cultivated for ornament, and C. Sassanqua and C. Oleifera are grown in China for the oil which is pressed from their seeds. The tea plant is now referred to this genus under the name of Camellia Thea.
Etymology [NL.; -- named after Kamel, a Jesuit who is said to have brought it from the East.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “camellia”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details