芍薬(しゃくやく)

しゃくやく
noun
(Chinese) peony
1. (Chinese) peony — the herbaceous kind
A large, showy flowering plant in the peony family, valued for its full, fragrant blooms in late spring and early summer. The herbaceous counterpart to 牡丹(ぼたん) (tree peony). Its dried root is also a classic ingredient in Chinese and 漢方(かんぽう) medicine.
庭(にわ)に芍薬(しゃくやく)が咲(さ)いた。
Peonies have bloomed in the garden.
芍薬(しゃくやく)は春(はる)から初夏(しょか)にかけて大(おお)きな花(はな)を咲(さ)かせる。
Peonies bloom with large flowers from spring through early summer.
母(はは)の日(ひ)に芍薬(しゃくやく)の花束(はなたば)をプレゼントした。
For Mother's Day, I gave a bouquet of peonies as a present.

Famous as the first half of the saying 立(た)てば芍薬(しゃくやく)座(すわ)れば牡丹(ぼたん)歩(ある)く姿(すがた)は百合(ゆり)の花(はな) — "standing, she is a peony; seated, a tree peony; walking, a lily" — a classic praise of feminine beauty.

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 芍薬(しゃくやく)の花(はな): peony flower(s)
  • 芍薬(しゃくやく)が咲(さ)く: peonies bloom
  • 芍薬(しゃくやく)の花束(はなたば): a bouquet of peonies

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • 牡丹(ぼたん): tree peony — woody-stemmed; blooms slightly earlier in spring
  • 百合(ゆり): lily — paired with 芍薬(しゃくやく) and 牡丹(ぼたん) in the famous beauty saying
general
Added 2026.6.1 11:11
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