Definition of "poinsettia" [poin•set•ti•a]

• A tropical American shrub (Euphorbia pulcherrima) that has showy, usually scarlet bracts beneath the small yellow flowerlike inflorescences. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "“Do you happen to know where the word poinsettia comes from?”"
• "(Poinsett, after whom the poinsettia is named, was the first U.S. minister to Mexico)."
• "Poinsett is better remembered for having introduced the Nochebuena plant (today known as the poinsettia) to the U.S."