bird of paradise Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a tropical flowering shrub having bright orange or red flowers; sometimes placed in genus Poinciana
    Poinciana gilliesii; poinciana; Caesalpinia gilliesii.
  2. noun ornamental plant of tropical South Africa and South America having stalks of orange and purplish-blue flowers resembling a bird
    Strelitzia reginae.
  3. noun any of numerous brilliantly colored plumed birds of the New Guinea area

WordNet

Bird" of par"a*dise
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) The name of several very beautiful birds of the genus Paradisea and allied genera, inhabiting New Guinea and the adjacent islands. The males have brilliant colors, elegant plumes, and often remarkable tail feathers. ✍ The Great emerald (Paradisea apoda) and the Lesser emerald (P. minor) furnish many of the plumes used as ornaments by ladies; the Red is P. rubra or sanguinea; the Golden is Parotia aurea or sexsetacea; the King is Cincinnurus regius. The name is also applied to the longer-billed birds of another related group (Epimachinæ) from the same region. The Twelve-wired (Seleucides alba) is one of these. See Paradise bird, and Note under Apod.

Webster 1913