Etymology of Poppy

POPPY (n.)

From Latin papaver—“poppy.” Plant of the genus papaver, having showy flowers and milky juice with valuable narcotic properties. Poppy seeds spread easily and can lie dormant for up to eighty years. The flowers can grow almost anywhere, including cracks in pavement. Ancient Romans made poppy offerings to the dead, and opium derived from the flower has been used since ancient times. In Chinese history, the poppy recalls the wanton brutality of the British Empire during the Opium Wars and the cruelty of colonialism.

A symbol of battlefields and war dead at least since Waterloo in 1815, possibly as far back as the time of Genghis Khan. Poppies were said to have been surprisingly abundant on the mass graves of Europe in World War I, which was not soil typically rich enough to support the poppy’s growth. It is surmised that the dirt churned up on battlefields from the detritus of war allowed poppy seeds that had been dormant to finally germinate.

Sentences using POPPY:

• “If you don’t want the poppies in your garden to spread too far from home, trim the old blooms.”
• “History wants poppy to be a symbol: of war, death, intoxication, resurrection. But poppy means only itself. Her needs are simple; she tilts her smiling face to the sun.”