poppy

Meanings

Noun

• Any plant of the genus Papaver or the family Papaveraceae, with crumpled, often red, petals and a milky juice having narcotic properties; especially the common poppy or corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) which has orange-red flowers; the flower of such a plant.
• A bright red colour tinted with orange, like that of the common poppy flower.
• A simple artificial poppy flower worn in a buttonhole or displayed in other contexts to remember those who died in the two World Wars and other armed conflicts, especially around Remembrance Day/Remembrance Sunday.
• One's father or grandfather, or a male authority figure having similar standing.

Adjective

• Of a bright red colour tinted with orange, like that of the common poppy flower (Papaver rhoeas).
• Having a popping or bursting sound.
• Of a beverage: resembling soda pop; effervescent, fizzy.
• Of eyes: protruding, sticking out.
• Popular.
• Typical, or in the style, of pop music.

Origin

• {{multiple images
• |direction = vertical
• |image1 = Atlas roslin pl Mak polny 8508 7520.jpg
• |image2 = Grand-Reng JPG05.jpg
• |caption2 = Common poppies or corn poppies (Papaver rhoeas; sense 1).
• |image3 = Royal British Legion's Paper Poppy - white background.jpg
• |caption3 = An artificial poppy flower (sense 3) for wearing in a buttonhole to remember those who died in armed conflicts.
• |image4 = Beckwithshaw Church 058.jpg
• |caption4 = Artificial poppies (sense 3) at a World War I memorial in the Church of St. Michael and All Angels,
• The noun is derived from Late Middle English poppy, Middle English popy, popi, popie, from Old English popiġ, Early Old English popeġ, popaeġ, popæġ, popei, perhaps from Late Latin *papavum, popauer, from Latin papāver, possibly from a reduplication of Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥.
• Sense 3 (“artificial poppy flower to remember those who died in the two World Wars and other armed conflicts”) reflects the efforts of American professor and humanitarian Moina Michael (1869–1944) to popularize the wearing of artificial poppies in remembrance of those who fought and died in World War I; she was inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields” (1915) by the Canadian poet and soldier John McCrae (1872–1918): see the quotation.
• The adjective is derived from the noun.