carnation

Etymology

From Middle French carnation (“person's color or complexion”).

noun

1. (botany) A type of Eurasian plant widely cultivated for its flowers.
   1. originally, Dianthus caryophyllus
   2. other members of genus Dianthus and hybrids
2. The type of flower they bear, originally flesh-coloured, but since hybridizing found in a variety of colours.
3. A rosy pink colour
   carnation:
   And the women of New Bedford, they bloom like their own red roses. But roses only bloom in summer; whereas the fine carnation of their cheeks is perennial as sunlight in the seventh heavens. 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 6
4. (archaic) The pinkish colors used in art to render human face and flesh
   carnation:
5. A scarlet colour.

adj

1. Of a rosy pink or red colour.
2. (archaic) Of a human flesh color.