nenuphar

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See also: nénuphar

English

Nymphaea alba
Nuphar lutea

Etymology

From Medieval Latin nenuphar, from Arabic نِلُوفَر (nilūfar), نِينُوفَر (nīnūfar), from Middle Persian nylw(k)pl (nīlōpal, “lotus, water-lily”), from Sanskrit नीलोत्पल (nīlotpala), from नील (nīla, “blue”) + उत्पल (utpala, “lotus, water-lily”). Compare French nénufar.

Pronunciation

Noun

nenuphar (plural nenuphars)

  1. A water lily, especially the European white water lily (Nymphaea alba) or the yellow water lily (Nuphar lutea).
    • 1920, Natalie Clifford Barney, “A Parisian Roof Garden in 1918”, in Poems & poèmes:
      We'll try the «lunar waltz» while floats afar / Upon the liquid night — night's nenuphar.
    • 1923, Powys Mathers, transl., The Thousand Nights and One Night:
      Arrived at the stall of a fruiterer, she bought Syrian apples, Osmāni quinces, peaches from Uman, jasmine of Aleppo, Damascene nenuphars, cucumbers from the Nile, limes from Egypt, Sultānī citrons, myrtle berries, flowers of henna, blood-red anemones, violets, pomegranate bloom, and the narcissus.
    • 1962, Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire:
      Somewhere an iron curtain had gone up, baring a painted one, with nymphs and nenuphars.

Further reading

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