pansy

[pan-zee] /ˈpæn zi/
noun, plural pansies.
1.
a violet, Viola tricolor hortensis, cultivated in many varieties, having richly and variously colored flowers.
2.
the flower of this plant.
3.
Slang.
  1. Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a male homosexual.
  2. Offensive. a weak, effeminate, and often cowardly man.
Origin
1490-1500; 1930-35 for def 3; < Middle French pensée pansy, literally, thought, noun use of feminine of past participle of penser to think < Latin pēnsāre to weigh, consider. See pensive

Pansy

[pan-zee] /ˈpæn zi/
noun
1.
a female given name.
Examples from the web for pansy
  • Remove faded flowers from pansy plants to keep them blooming.
British Dictionary definitions for pansy

pansy

/ˈpænzɪ/
noun (pl) -sies
1.
any violaceous garden plant that is a variety of Viola tricolor, having flowers with rounded velvety petals, white, yellow, or purple in colour See also wild pansy
2.
(slang, offensive) an effeminate or homosexual man or boy
3.
  1. a strong violet colour
  2. (as adjective): a pansy carpet
Word Origin
C15: from Old French pensée thought, from penser to think, from Latin pensāre
Word Origin and History for pansy
n.

mid-15c., from Middle French pensée "a pansy," literally "thought, remembrance," from fem. past participle of penser "to think," from Latin pensare "consider," frequentative of pendere "to weigh" (see pensive). So called because it was regarded as a symbol of thought or remembrance. Meaning "effeminate homosexual man" is first recorded 1929.

Slang definitions & phrases for pansy

pansy

adjective

: Stage and screen voices in recent years have become so pansy

noun
  1. A male homosexual; queen: if someone had bluntly said that her friends were pansies
  2. A weak or effeminate male; lily, sissy (1929+)