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Peony

Flora
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A perennial with large, often fragrant blooms in pink, red, white, or yellow, with glossy foliage.

Detailed Definition
Peonies symbolize romance, prosperity, honor, and happy marriage in poetry. Their luxurious, layered blooms represent abundance and sensual beauty. In Chinese poetry, peonies are king of flowers, representing nobility and wealth. The flowers' brief but spectacular blooming emphasizes beauty's transience. Ants often visible on buds before opening add curious natural detail. Poets use peonies to represent fullness of beauty, the rewards of patience, marriage hopes, and blooms so abundant they require support, suggesting beauty that overwhelms its own structure.
Example
Example in poetry:
Peonies' lush, full blooms symbolize romance, prosperity, and bashfulness in flower language; In Chinese poetry, peonies represent wealth, honor, and feminine beauty; The flowers' brief but spectacular bloom period emphasizes seizing beauty's moment; Peony buds covered with ants create imagery of natural cooperation and protection; In cottage garden poetry, peonies represent old-fashioned abundance and grandmother's flowers; The plant's longevity (decades in one spot) symbolizes endurance and faithful return
Additional Notes
Peony is a flower of fullness: large, often fragrant blooms that can appear almost over-luxurious, making it a natural symbol of prosperity, romance, and sometimes excess. Because peonies open from tight buds into expansive petals, they suit metaphors of unfolding feeling and sudden abundance. In some traditions they’re linked with honour and wealth, adding cultural depth. Their heavy heads can also suggest vulnerability: beauty that droops, splendour that must be supported, desire that tips into collapse.
Other Meanings of “Peony”
Also Known As
Paeony Piney (regional) Paeonia
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