Narcissus

UK: 'Narcissus', 'narcissus': /nɑːˈsɪsəs/

US: /nɑrˈsɪsəs/

US: (när sis′əs)

Inflections of 'narcissus' (n):

narcissi

npl

narcissus

npl

narcissuses

npl

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Narcissus / nɑːˈsɪsəs/ noun

1. a beautiful youth who fell in love with his reflection in a pool and pined away, becoming the flower that bears his name

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

nar•cis•sus /nɑrˈsɪsəs/  n. [countable] , pl. -cis•sus, -cis•sus•es, -cis•si /-ˈsɪsi, -ˈsɪsaɪ/.  

1. Plant Biology a plant having yellow or white flowers with a cup-shaped crown.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

nar•cis•sus  (när sis′əs), n., pl. -cis•sus, -cis•sus•es, -cis•si (-sis′ē, -sis′ī) for 1, 2.

1. Plant Biology any bulbous plant belonging to the genus Narcissus, of the amaryllis family, having showy yellow or white flowers with a cup-shaped corona.
2. Plant Biology the flower of any of these plants.
3. Mythology (cap.) [Class. Myth.] a youth who fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool and wasted away from unsatisfied desire, whereupon he was transformed into the flower.

• Greek nárkissos plant name, traditionally connected, by virtue of plant's narcotic effects, with nárkē numbness, torpor. See narcotic
• Latin
• 1540–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

narcissus / nɑːˈsɪsəs/ noun ( -cissuses, -cissi / -ˈsɪsaɪ -ˈsɪsiː/)

1. any amaryllidaceous plant of the Eurasian genus Narcissus, esp N. poeticus, whose yellow, orange, or white flowers have a crown surrounded by spreading segments

Etymology: 16th Century: via Latin from Greek nárkissos, perhaps from narkē numbness, because of narcotic properties attributed to species of the plant