Word.ws English Dictionary

protea

protea noun: any of many South African flowering plants, of the genus Protea, having colourful cone-shaped flower heads.

protea: any of many South African flowering plants, of the genus Protea, having colourful cone-shaped...
Image: Dwergenpaartje, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

protea (plural proteas)

  1. Any of many South African flowering plants, of the genus Protea, having colourful cone-shaped flower heads.
    Synonyms:
    sugarbush

Synonyms of protea

Forms of protea

pluralproteas

Origin of protea

Named after Proteus, the Greek warden of sea-beasts, renowned for his ability to change shape.

Words formed from protea

  • common protea
  • king protea
  • Noumea protea
  • oleander-leaf protea
  • orange-banded protea
  • orange banded protea
  • partula protea
  • phalaena protea
  • pin-cushion protea
  • snow protea

Questions about protea

What does protea mean?
Protea means any of many South African flowering plants, of the genus Protea, having colourful cone-shaped flower heads.
What part of speech is protea?
Protea is a noun.
What is the plural of protea?
The plural of protea is proteas.

Words near protea in the dictionary

  1. protaspids
  2. protaspis
  3. protatic
  4. protax
  5. protaxation
  6. protea
  7. proteaceous
  8. proteaginous
  9. protealide
  10. protealides
  11. proteamine

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: protea (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:

Cite this entry: “protea.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/protea. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.