helianthus C2+ Topic:Plants & Agriculture US /ˌhiːliˈænθəs/ UK /ˌhiːliˈænθəs/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun a plant of the sunflower genus, with large radiate flower heads Rows of towering helianthus turned their faces toward the sun. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a plant of the sunflower... sunflower Word family Related forms heliotropehelium Etymology AI details Modern Latin coinage from Ancient Greek helios ('sun') plus anthos ('flower'), so 'sun-flower', named for the radiate, sun-like flower heads. helios Ancient Greek anthos Ancient Greek View etymology graph -> Topics Plants & Agriculture External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # helianthus **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˌhiːliˈænθəs/ **IPA (UK):** /ˌhiːliˈænθəs/ ## Meanings 1. a plant of the sunflower genus, with large radiate flower heads ## Examples - Rows of towering helianthus turned their faces toward the sun. ## Synonyms - sunflower ## Related Forms - heliotrope - helium ## Roots and Affixes - Root: helios - Root: anthos ## Etymology Modern Latin coinage from Ancient Greek helios ('sun') plus anthos ('flower'), so 'sun-flower', named for the radiate, sun-like flower heads. ## AI Etymology helianthus is a modern Latin coinage from Ancient Greek helios ('sun') plus anthos ('flower'), so 'sun-flower', named for the radiate, sun-like flower heads. The path is chiefly one of transmission: the word passes through the named languages and forms, with each stage preserving part of the modern shape. In present English, the noun sense is "a plant of the sunflower genus, with large radiate flower heads", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as heliotrope and helium. Its semantic neighborhood includes sunflower, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Ancient Greek helios and Ancient Greek anthos. ## Topics - Plants & Agriculture markdown