fritillary means any of several bulbous perennial plants, of the genus Fritillaria, having flowers with a spotted or chequered pattern. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 90 out of 100.
fritillary is pronounced /fɹəˈtɪləɹi/.
Why “fritillary” is a great word
FRITILLARY — [Noun] Any of several bulbous plants of the genus Fritillaria with checkered flowers, or any of various butterflies of the family Nymphalidae with spotted wings. From the Latin fritillus ("dice-box, checkerboard"), referring to the checkered pattern of the plant's flowers and butterfly's wings; the word for the plant is attested from 1633. Unlike "lily," which suggests a bold, solid-colored trumpet, or "monarch," which signifies a specific, regal orange-and-black voyager, a fritillary is a quieter beauty defined by cryptic geometry. It is the dusky, purple-checkered bell nodding in a damp meadow, the tawny wing with a precise array of silver spots alighting on a thistle, and the intricate tessellation where the botanical and zoological briefly meet—a study in nature's persistent love of patterned disguise.
noun
- Any of several bulbous perennial plants, of the genus Fritillaria, having flowers with a spotted or chequered pattern.“Fritillaries are as fundamental a part of the British water meadow landscape as Ratty and Mole slowly punting along under a willow tree. They speak of opalescent spring mornings, with their distinctive chequered bells bowed earthward and beaded with dew, a dark counterpoint to the acid-fresh grass.”
- Any of several butterflies, of the family Nymphalidae, having wings with black or silvery spots.“The Nymphalidae are a very extensive group, of generally strong-winged and very bright-coloured butterflies, very abundant in the tropics, and represented in our own country by our Fritillaries, our Vanessas, and our Purple-emperor.”