Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of several Chinese deciduous trees of the genus Paulownia, having large, heart-shaped, opposite leaves and pyramidal panicles of purplish or white flowers with a spotted interior. Also called princess tree.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A genus of ornamental trees of the order Scrophularineæ and the tribe Cheloneæ, characterized by the absence of a sterile stamen, and by a deeply cleft scurfy calyx with five broad and fleshy obtuse valvate lobes. There is but one species, P. imperialis, native of Japan, a large tree, resembling the catalpa in appearance, bearing broadly heart-shaped opposite soft-hairy leaves, and large terminal panicles of showy pale-violet or blue and brown-spotted flowers in early spring. The many large and conspicuous pointed capsules are persistent one or two winters, containing loose in each of their two cells an almond-like thickened placenta, and numerous seeds each with a white delicate lace-like wing. The tree is a favorite in cultivation, especially in Washington, in Paris, and in more southern regions, but is injured by more northern winters.
Wiktionary
- n. botany Any member of the genus Paulownia, comprising deciduous flowering trees native to Asia.
Etymologies
- New Latin, from German Paulowna, transliterating Russian Павловна, the patronymic of Anna Pavlovna. (Wiktionary)
- New Latin, genus name, after Princess Anna Paulovna (1795-1865), Russian princess and queen of William II of the Netherlands. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The name means "temple of the precious paulownia tree" for the graceful, flowering tree that stood on the restaurant grounds for years, according to Kim Seok-woong, the restaurant owner's former butler.”
The Huffington Post: Ojinam, Legendary Seoul Restaurant, Closes To Make Way For Hotel
“Eight years ago, he planted 10 acres of paulownia trees on several fields around his house.”
The Wall Street Journal: A Past President's Advice to Obama: Act With Haste
“In the shade of a southern magnolia or a flowering Chinese paulownia or perhaps an elm or a beech planted by Jefferson one could watch the flow of traffic along Pennsylvania Avenue or contemplate the north façade of the White House; or try to fathom–as nearly everyone did–what marvelous bit of ingenuity kept the equestrian bronze of Andrew Jackson in such uncanny equilibrium.”
“The outside of the box was made of Chinese quince, the inside of paulownia, and the whole was lined with amethyst silk.”
“Now Hatsumomo took the twig of paulownia wood she'd shown me earlier and lit it with a match.”
“Recently, "Tree Project News" reported that paulownia is extremely sensitive to shade and requires intensive light for germination and seedling growth.”
“He was in the six-tatami room-space being defined in Japanese houses by the number of reed mats the wood floor could contain-with only a small table, a cotton futon and a drawered naga-hibachi of burl paulownia wood dating from the early part of the nineteenth century.”
“An oak leaf, the broad reminder of the _kiri_ (paulownia imperialis), such might come from last year's fall.”
“Beyond the window the tawny leaves of the paulownia were swinging in the”
“Standing there, with the stiff silk slipping away from her thin shoulders, and the dappled sunlight falling over her neck and arms through the tawny leaves of the paulownia tree in the garden, she was like a slim white lily unfolding softly out of its sheath.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘paulownia’.
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A Sequel to 250 Spelling Words
Words to quiz the intermediate and advanced speller alike
amatorio, esemplastic, etesian, cholecystitis, chantepleure, paternoster, mondegreen, aporia, kairos, idioglossia, klepht, phansigar and 238 more...
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Ada, or Ardor ~Vladmir Nabokov
granoblastically, cicerone, aerocable, anachronistically, parvis, athwart, mnemonic, squitteroo, nusshaus, edelweiss, intermezzo, cabriole and 183 more...
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surprisingly eponymous
words that derive from personal names, though you might not have guessed it
rodomontade, celadon, galvanize, diesel, sideburns, bloomers, chauvinism, quixotic, epicurean, sandwich, chesterfield, gerrymander and 76 more...
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