dahlia

Where does the word "dahlia" come from? It comes from Swedish Anders Dahl, and was adopted directly into English (1804).

Dahlia’s story begins in Swedish: Anders Dahl meant “a botanist's name.” A Swedish botanist honored in the name of the vividly flowering plant. It reached English by 1804 as dahlia. Named by the Madrid botanist Antonio Cavanilles for the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl, a student of Linnaeus. Today, dahlia means a garden plant with large, colorful, many-petaled flowers.

1. Stage 1 · Swedish · 1700s Anders Dahl "a botanist's name", a Swedish botanist honored in the name of the vividly flowering plant.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1804 dahlia "a colorful, many-petaled garden flower", named by the Madrid botanist Antonio Cavanilles for the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl, a student of Linnaeus.