carnation
UK/kɑːˈneɪ.ʃən//kɑɹˈneɪ.ʃən/
carnation noun: originally, Dianthus caryophyllus.
Noun
carnation (countable and uncountable, plural carnations)
- originally, Dianthus caryophyllus
- other members of genus Dianthus and hybrids
- Synonyms:
- clove pink, cottage pink, Dianthus plumarius, Dianthus caryophyllus
- The type of flower they bear, originally flesh-coloured, but since hybridizing found in a variety of colours.
- A rosy pink colour
- And the women of New Bedford, they bloom like their own red roses. But roses only bloom in summer; whereas the fine carnation of their cheeks is perennial as sunlight in the seventh heavens.1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 6
- The pinkish colors used in art to render human face and flesh
- A scarlet colour.
Adjective
carnation (not comparable)
Proper noun capitalized: Carnation
Carnation
- A city in King, Washington, United States.
- An unincorporated community in Washington County, Oregon, United States.
carnation meaning in Bengali, Tagalog, Arabic and Malay
carnation in Bengali
- এক ধরনের গোলাপি, লাল ফুল
carnation in Tagalog
- plant
- klabel
- flower
- klabel
carnation in Arabic
- plant
- قَرَنْفُل qaranful
- flower
- قَرَنْفُل qaranful
carnation in Malay
- flower
- bunga teluki
More languagesFewer languages
- carnation in Indonesian
- bunga anyelir, bunga teluki
- carnation in Persian
- میخک mixak
- carnation in Thai
- คาร์เนชั่น kaa-nee-chân
- carnation in Vietnamese
- cẩm chướng
- carnation in Myanmar
- ဇော်မွှား jauhmwa:
Examples of carnation in a sentence
- These carnations smell beautiful but those daffodils smell funny.
- By means of artificial hybridization, practised for a series of years, he has succeeded in producing a race of carnations which are perpetual bloomers.
- The u father will be wearing his own morning coat and a carnation.
Synonyms of carnation
- clove pink
- cottage pink
- Dianthus plumarius
- Dianthus caryophyllus
Forms of carnation
| plural | carnations |
|---|
Origin of carnation
From Middle French carnation (“flesh color, complexion”), either via Italian carnagione (“flesh color”) or directly from Late Latin carnātiō (“fleshiness”), from Latin carō (“flesh, meat”) + ātiō (“-ation”). As a flower and its color, possibly instead from corruption in French of coronation (“crowning, crowned thing”) under the influence of carnation, from the flower's supposed resemblance to a crown. By surface analysis, Latin carn- + -ate + -ion.
Words formed from carnation
Words that rhyme with carnation
- station
- collation
- accommodation
- presentation
- derivation
- information
- modulation
- translation
- application
- fixation
- generation
- orientation
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- citation
- combination
- communication
- conjugation
- constellation
- determination
- elevation
- operation
- relation
- reservation
- alternation
- condensation
- conversation
- deviation
- excavation
- foliation
- formation
- foundation
- incarnation
- interpretation
- representation
- retardation
- speculation
- termination
- abbreviation
- adaptation
- articulation
- bifurcation
- concentration
- congregation
- declination
- degradation
- expectation
- extenuation
- gradation
- observation
- population
- preparation
- reconciliation
- rotation
- separation
- situation
- vexation
- vindication
- accumulation
- administration
- aggregation
- appropriation
Questions about carnation
- What does carnation mean?
- Carnation means originally, Dianthus caryophyllus.
- What is carnation in Bengali?
- Carnation in Bengali is এক ধরনের গোলাপি, লাল ফুল. See Carnation meaning in Bengali.
- What part of speech is carnation?
- Carnation can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce carnation?
- Carnation is pronounced /kɑːˈneɪ.ʃən/ (UK).
- What is the plural of carnation?
- The plural of carnation is carnations.
Words near carnation in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: carnation (page history and authors); Carnation (page history and authors); carnation (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-carnation.ogg.
Cite this entry: “carnation.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/carnation. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.