pansy

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small garden plant of the violet family with rounded, often multicolored petals

   A pale pansy with dark markings grew at the edge of the flower bed.

2. 2
   noun

   an offensive, old-fashioned slur for a gay man or a man regarded as weak or effeminate

   The editor removed pansy from the dialogue because it was being used as an offensive slur.

Simplified etymology

Pansy is a late Middle English adaptation of French pensée, meaning “thought.” The flower was so named because its face-like markings seemed to give it a pensive appearance.

From Middle French pensee ("thought"), the name of the flower, from penser ("to think"). The flower was associated with remembrance or a thoughtful face. English pansy first named the plant; the insulting senses developed much later and are now offensive and old-fashioned.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary