Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various plants of the genus Viola, especially a California violet (V. pedunculata) or a European pansy (V. tricolor), having ovate leaves and variously colored flowers.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The pansy, Viola tricolor; also, the bird-foot violet, V. pedata.
Wiktionary
WordNet 3.0
- n. a common and long cultivated European herb from which most common garden pansies are derived
- n. common violet of the eastern United States with large pale blue or purple flowers resembling pansies
Etymologies
- From Johnny + jump + up. (Wiktionary)
- From its quick growth. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“But Johnny-jump-up suits 'em best, for it kind o 'tells how they come up in the spring.”
“So arose Johnny-jump-up for the Viola tricolor, and basswood for the common European linden or lime-tree (Tilia), and locust for the Robinia pseudacacia and its allies.”
Chapter 2. The Beginnings of American. 3. New Words of English Material
“In a very short time a butterfly was brought out, and harnessed to a first-class Johnny-jump-up.”
“One of the best loved is the old-fashioned Johnny-jump-up (V. tricolor), a viola with dark purple upper petals and lower petals in shades of lavender-blue, yellow or white, often with dark purple markings, Plants are short-lived but readily self-seed, providing pleasurable discoveries of new plants in unexpected places each year.”
“However, I can let you have a nice easy Johnny-jump-up, if you say so. ”
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