The big question I ask myself every spring is How to Pronounce Peony. Every time I visit my florist friend, she says it differently. I always walk away thinking I must be mispronouncing this word. I thought it would be fun to dive into how people pronounce these beautiful flowers.
I know that so many people pronounce words in so many ways. There are even songs about how some pronounce the word tomato! The word peony doesn’t have a song yet, but I’m confident the pronunciation has crossed the minds of anyone who loves these flowers.
Of course, before we proceed, I want to mention my many floral posts that you might enjoy!
How to Pronounce Peony
Let’s rewind and go back to my grade school days, specifically when learning to read.
I must admit that I was never great at figuring out the rules of sounding out words. I promise to phonetically sound out peony in word snippets you can understand for this post. You know what I’m talking about, all those fancy symbols above over e’s and o’s.
So, there are a couple of dominant ways to pronounce peony.
PEE-OH-KNEE
PEE-AH-KNEE
PINE-KNEES
PEE-KNEE
Which camp do you live in when it comes to pronouncing peony correctly?
Before we go any further, let’s look at a few facts about the word.
Etymology
Peony is named after Paeon, the Greek god of medicine and healing. One story says that Paeon, known as the healer of the gods, used a peony to treat a wound for Zeus.
The Correct Pronunciation
When I started down this journey of pronouncing the word Peony, I thought it was pretty clear it was pee-ah-knee. But, as I dug deeper into google, I realized that there were more ways and not a clear winner.
But, if you want to know how Webster Dictionary pronounces the word, then here is their phonetics spelling.
Drumroll, please!
pē-ə-nē
Oh, there are all those phonetics symbols that I failed to learn. But another way to sound it out is PEE-AH-KNEE. 🙂
Thank goodness I’m married to a professional writer. 🙂
But, seriously, folks, whatever way you pronounce the word is acceptable.
We can agree to admire these beautiful flowers and create gorgeous arrangements forever!
By the way, my mother-in-law pronounces hydrangea as HIDE-A-RANGER! Whenever she says the hydrangea, I always look for the ranger that she hid.
Cheers,
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LindaSonia
I laughed out loud when I read the title of your post – LOL – loved it – I am in the pee-ah-nee group. LOL!
Janine Waite
Too funny, I’m happy you liked the post! 🙂
Susan
We have always pronounced it Pee-oh-knee . You made me literally laugh out loud about the hydrangea pronunciation. I will be looking for that ranger now! 🤣
Janine Waite
Susan,
I always kind of chuckle to myself when my Mother-in-law mentions her Hide-Her-Rangers! She is quite a character!