Adjacent Words

Plantagenet definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the family name of a line of English kings that reigned from 1154 to 1485 [syn: Plantagenet, Plantagenet line]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Plantagenet, nickname of the family adopted as surname Date: 1868 of or relating to a royal house ruling England from 1154 to 1485 • Plantagenet noun

Britannica Concise

Royal house of England (1154-1485) that provided 14 kings, incl. six from the cadet houses of Lancaster and York. The line descended from Geoffrey, count of Anjou (d.1151), and the empress Matilda, daughter of the English king Henry I. Some historians apply the name House of Anjou, or Angevin dynasty, to only Henry II, Richard I, and John, and label their successors, incl. Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III, as Plantagenets. The name may have originated as a nickname (Plante-geneste) for Count Geoffrey, who planted broom shrubs (Latin genista) to improve his hunting covers. The Wars of the Roses saw the defeat of the last Plantagenet king, Richard III, in 1485. The legitimate line ended with Edward of Warwick (d.1499).

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. of or relating to the kings of England from Henry II to Richard II. --n. any of these kings. Etymology: = sprig of broom (L planta genista) worn as a distinctive mark, the origin of their surname