Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

petunia

/pəˈtʃuːnjə/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.48 in modern English

Syllables
pe-tu-ni-a
IPA
/pəˈtʃuːnjə/
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any of the flowering plants of genus Petunia, of which most garden varieties are hybrids.

noun

A dark purple colour, like that of some petunia flowers.

noun

A homosexual.

Slang

adj

Of a dark purple colour, like that of some petunia flowers.

name

A female given name from English.

Dated

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Tupian *pe Proto-Tupi-Guarani *tɨm Proto-Tupi-Guarani *pe-tɨm Old Tupi petymabor. French pétun Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos 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. Translingual -ia taxonomic name Petuniabor. English petunia Borrowed from taxonomic name Petunia, from (now obsolete) French pétun (“tobacco”), from Old Tupi petyma (“tobacco”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: pétun, petyma

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /pəˈtʃuːnjə/
  • British English: /pəˈtʲuːni.ə/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

hairyflower wild petunia Petunia vein banding virus

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce petunia?
The recorded pronunciation is /pəˈtʃuːnjə/.
What does petunia mean?
Any of the flowering plants of genus Petunia, of which most garden varieties are hybrids.
Where does petunia come from?
It is traced to French.

How to pronounce petunia

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “petunia”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/pəˈtʃuːnjə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “petunia”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “petunia” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.