windflower

windflower means synonym of wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa).

Why “windflower” is a great word

A common name for plants of the genus Anemone, especially the wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa). From the English words 'wind' + 'flower', a calque of the Greek anemōnē (ἀνεμώνη), meaning 'windflower', first attested in English 1545–55. Unlike the formal, clinical 'anemone' or the opiate-laden, gaudy 'poppy', 'windflower' is a name spun from breath and fragility. It is the white star that trembles on a woodland floor, the petal so thin a breath could carry it, the fragile ballet of a bloom that lives by the wind's permission—a quiet testament to the beauty of things that thrive through yielding, as if the wind itself decided to bloom.

Etymology

From wind + flower.

noun

Synonym of wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa).e.g.“Herba venti, Anemone. Wind flower, the juyce snuffed up the nose purgeth the head, it cleanseth filthy ulcers, encreaseth milk in nurses, and outwardly by ointment helps Leprosyes.” — 1649, Nicholas Culpeper, A physicall directory, or, A translation of the London dispensatory made by the Colledge of Physicians in London, London: Peter Cole, page 40:

Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Words closest in meaning

By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.

anemone 67% match — Any plant of the genus Anemone, of the Ranunculaceae (or buttercup) family, such as the windflower. vs windflower →
moonflower 57% match — Any of several plants that flower at night:; An ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) vs windflower →
wildflower 56% match — A wild (uncultivated) flowering plant. vs windflower →
bloodflower 55% match — Any plant in the genus Haemanthus, bulbous African plants of the amaryllis family. vs windflower →
anemophilous 55% match — Pollinated by the wind. vs windflower →
sunbloom 54% match — Synonym of sunflower. vs windflower →
anemophile 54% match — Any anemophilous plant. vs windflower →
elfwort 54% match — Synonym of elecampane. vs windflower →