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campion (KAM-pee-uhn) - n., any of several plants of the pink family (genera Silene and Lychnis) with pink or white flowers with notched petals, native chiefly to the Northern Hemisphere.
Many species are cultivated as an ornamental. The name dates to at least 1575, and seems to be derived from campion as an obsolete form of champion: in classical times, the rose campion (Silene coronaria, formerly Lychnis coronaria, which the actual name in Latin, translating the Greek name, lukhnis stephanōmatikē, literally "campion fit for a crown") was used to make garlands for victors.
---L.
Many species are cultivated as an ornamental. The name dates to at least 1575, and seems to be derived from campion as an obsolete form of champion: in classical times, the rose campion (Silene coronaria, formerly Lychnis coronaria, which the actual name in Latin, translating the Greek name, lukhnis stephanōmatikē, literally "campion fit for a crown") was used to make garlands for victors.
---L.
