# petunia

> English word · Noun · IPA /pəˈtʲuːni.ə/ · frequency rank #54,395

## Definitions
1. Any of the flowering plants of genus Petunia, of which most garden varieties are hybrids.
2. A dark purple colour, like that of some petunia flowers.
3. A homosexual.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Tupian *pe
Proto-Tupi-Guarani *tɨm
Proto-Tupi-Guarani *pe-tɨm
Old Tupi petymabor.
French pétun
Proto-Indo-European *-yós
Proto-Italic *-ios
Old Latin -ios
Latin -ius
Latin -iader.
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂
Proto-Hellenic *-íā
Ancient Greek -ία (-ía)der.
taxonomic name -ia
taxonomic name Petunialbor.
English petunia
Learned borrowing from taxonomic name Petunia, from (now obsolete) French pétun (“tobacco”), from Old Tupi petyma (“tobacco”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/petunia