hoya
hoya Lexical Profile
hoya Game Scores & Validity
• noun
American A student, alumnus, or athletic team member of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
"As a proud Hoya, he returned to campus every year to attend the homecoming basketball game."
A genus of tropical evergreen climbing plants or shrubs in the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), native to Asia and Australasia, widely cultivated as houseplants for their thick, fleshy leaves and fragrant, star-shaped waxy flowers.
"She carefully watered the hoya hanging in her sunroom, admiring its newly formed cluster of pink, waxy blooms."
Word Nuance & Usage
When referring to a member of the Georgetown University community, the word is typically capitalized as 'Hoya'.
• Rhymes for hoya
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
The plant genus was named by botanist Robert Brown in 1810 in honor of Thomas Hoy, an English gardener. The Georgetown University moniker stems from the late 19th-century college cheer 'Hoya Saxa' (often translated as 'What rocks!'), utilizing a mixture of Greek ('hoia') and Latin ('saxa').
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.