four-o’clock

four-o’clock [fawr-uh-klok, fohr-] Word Origin noun

1. a common garden plant, Mirabilis jalapa, of the four-o’clock family, having tubular red, white, yellow, or variegated flowers that open late in the afternoon.
2. any plant of the same genus.

Origin of four-o’clock First recorded in 1750–60 British Dictionary definitions for four-o’clock four-o’clock noun

1. Also called: marvel-of-Peru a tropical American nyctaginaceous plant, Mirabilis jalapa, cultivated for its tubular yellow, red, or white flowers that open in late afternoon
2. Australian another name for friarbird, esp the noisy friarbird (Philemon corniculatus): so called because of its cry