celosia

noun ce·lo·sia \ sē-ˈlō-zh(ē-)ə \

Updated on: 4 Apr 2018

Definition of celosia

: any of a genus (Celosia) of tropical annual herbs (such as cockscomb) of the amaranth family that have alternate leaves and showy flower spikes often forming feathery clusters in cultivated forms

Recent Examples of celosia from the Web

Flowers to start from seed: Cannabis, cosmos, snaps, ageratum, seed dahlias, godetia, aster, celosia, malva, salvia, lupine, Achimenes (tubers), brachyscome (15C), dianthus (5), stock(10L), lockspar (20C).

— jeff lowenfels, Anchorage Daily News, "Alaska gardeners, it’s time to germinate something," 29 Mar. 2018
In the flower garden, plant aster, celosia, cosmos, larkspur, nasturtium, nicotiana, portulaca, salvia, snapdragon, verbena and zinnia.

— debbie arrington, sacbee, "Turn your flower garden green this St. Patrick's Day | The Sacramento Bee," 16 Mar. 2018
Coconut frond, anthurium, orchid, celosia, and bromeliad with a LBK Studio glass sculpture, $550 at abchome.com.

— brittany asch, The Cut, "Exploring ‘Freakebana’, a New Style of Arranging Flowers," 12 Dec. 2017
Flowers which air dry well include goldenrod, hydrangea, statice, strawflower, celosia, rosebuds, yarrow, globe amaranth, grass plumes, rudbeckia, bachelor's buttons, zinnias and sunflower, to name a few.

— dan gill, NOLA.com, "How to create festive and free holiday decorations straight from your garden," 4 Nov. 2017
Alana Giarrano, an undergraduate, appeared with a box containing milk thistle, St. John’s wort, stinging nettle and a plant with a fuzzy pink shock of a flower, like a tiny mohawk, called dwarf coral, or celosia.

— written by annie correal; photographs by karsten moran, New York Times, "A Seed Artist Germinates History," 31 Oct. 2017
There are annuals like celosia, whose velvety magenta and ivory folds look like the wrinkles of the human brain.

— arielle dollinger, New York Times, "For Wine Grape Season, a Canarsie Garden Center Has the Goods," 26 Oct. 2017
In the flower garden, plant seeds for salvia, sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, celosia and asters.

— debbie arrington, sacbee.com, "Feed vegetable garden first, so it can feed you more," 19 May 2017
Plants for sale include flowers such as zinnias, petunias, wave petunias, marigolds, celosia, coleus, snapdragons, salvia, spiderwort, geraniums, impatiens and begonias.

— staff report, Daily Southtown, "Community news," 3 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'celosia.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of celosia

New Latin, irregular from Greek kēleos burning; akin to Greek kaiein to burn

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First Known Use: 1807

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