orchidaceous

English

Etymology

From Orchidaceae;[1] equivalent to orchid +‎ -aceous.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -eɪʃəs

Adjective

orchidaceous (comparative more orchidaceous, superlative most orchidaceous)

  1. (botany) Of or pertaining to orchids.
    Synonyms: orchidean, orchideous
    In keeping with the orchidaceous theme of the wedding, the decorator draped the walls with lavenders and pinks.
  2. Exotic in a rare, mysterious, alluring, or sensual way.
    • 1923 September, Shane Leslie, “Frederick Baron Corvo”, in J[ohn] C[ollings] Squire, editor, The London Mercury, volume VIII, number 47, London: The London Mercury Ltd, →OCLC, page 510:
      These stories were variously received. […] J. D. found them “charged with Corvonian idiosyncrasy, a jumble-jargon composed of modern slang, old English, Latin, Italian and Greek,” adding: “The Corvo vocabulary is orchidaceous.”
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:orchidaceous.

Translations

References

  1. ^ “orchidaceous, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
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