'Peony' is named after Paion, physician of the Greek gods — the healer who used the plant to treat wounds.
A herbaceous or shrubby plant with large, showy flowers.
From Old English 'peonie', from Latin 'paeonia', from Greek 'paiōnía' (the peony plant), named after Paean ('Paiṓn'), the physician of the gods in Greek mythology, who first used the plant medicinally to heal Ares after battle. 'Paiṓn' derives from 'paiein' (to strike, to beat), from PIE *peh₂w- (to hit, to strike). The myth explicitly encodes the plant's medical use: the root of Paeonia officinalis was used in ancient medicine for epilepsy, menstrual disorders, and childbirth — conditions once attributed to divine affliction requiring a divine healer. The same PIE root *peh₂w- yielded Latin 'putāre' (to reckon, to think