Pansy
late Middle English: from French pensée ‘thought, pansy’, from penser ‘think’, from Latin pensare, frequentative of pendere ‘weigh, consider’.
wiktionary
From Middle French pensée(“thought”), as the plant resembles someone that is in deep thought, with a lowered head.
etymonline
pansy (n.)
"a type of violet, popular as a garden flower," mid-15c., pense, from Old French pensee. pencee "a pansy," literally "thought, remembrance," from fem. past participle of penser "to think," from Latin pensare "consider," a figurative use of a frequentative of pendere "to hang, cause to hang; weigh; pay" (from PIE root *(s)pen- "to draw, stretch, spin"). So called because it was regarded as a symbol of thought or remembrance.
Meaning "effeminate homosexual man" is recorded by 1929. Related: Pansified (1941) "over-adorned, affectedly effeminate."
