any plant of the Old World genus Coleus: cultivated for their variegated leaves, typically marked with red, yellow, or white: family Lamiaceae (labiates)
Word origin
C19: from New Latin, from Greek koleos, variant of koleon sheath; from the way in which the stamens are joined
coleus in American English
(ˈkoʊliəs)
noun
any of a genus (Coleus) of plants of the mint family, native to Africa and the East Indies, grown for their bright-colored leaves
Word origin
ModL < Gr koleos, a sheath: so named because of the way in which the stamens are joined
Examples of 'coleus' in a sentence
coleus
By the window was a plant, only a coleus dug from the garden, but it was actually growing.