crocus
English
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkɹəʊ.kəs/
Audio (UK) (file) - (US) IPA(key): /ˈkɹoʊ.kəs/
- Rhymes: -əʊkəs
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Latin crocus, from Ancient Greek κρόκος (krókos, “crocus”), from an ancient Semitic language.
Noun
crocus (plural crocuses or croci or crocus)
- A perennial flowering plant (of the genus Crocus in the Iridaceae family). Saffron is obtained from the stamens of Crocus sativus.
- 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 128:
- Nothing is more short-lived than the erection; like the crocus of spring, it is there for a moment, and then it is gone; one moment the penis is small, soft, and insignificant, and then in the next it is hard, rigid, and three and four times its previous size.
-
- Any of various similar flowering plants, such as the autumn crocus and prairie crocus.
- (chemistry, obsolete) A deep yellow powder, the oxide of some metal (especially iron), calcined to a red or deep yellow colour.
- (obsolete, slang) A fraudulent doctor; a quack.
Derived terms
- autumn crocus
- crocus of Mars
- crocus of Venus
- prairie crocus
- saffron crocus
Translations
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Etymology 2
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “From croker?”)
Noun
crocus (uncountable)
- (Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago) Burlap.
- a crocus bag
Anagrams
- occurs, succor
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin crocus, from Ancient Greek κρόκος (krókos, “crocus”).
Pronunciation
- (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA(key): /ˈkɾɔ.kus/
Noun
crocus m (plural crocus)
- crocus
Further reading
- “crocus”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
- “crocus” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin crocus, from Ancient Greek κρόκος (krókos, “crocus”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kʁɔ.kys/
Noun
crocus m (plural crocus)
- crocus (plant)
Further reading
- “crocus”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin
Alternative forms
- crocum
Etymology
From Ancient Greek κρόκος (krókos, “crocus”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈkro.kus/, [ˈkrɔkʊs̠]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈkro.kus/, [ˈkrɔːkus]
Noun
crocus m (genitive crocī); second declension
- crocus, saffron
Usage notes
Most often, the masculine crocus was used to refer to the plant, while the neuter crocum was used for saffron gathered from the plant. However, this distinction is not universally observed, and the word crocus may refer either to the crocus plant or to saffron taken from the plant.
Declension
Second-declension noun.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | crocus | crocī |
Genitive | crocī | crocōrum |
Dative | crocō | crocīs |
Accusative | crocum | crocōs |
Ablative | crocō | crocīs |
Vocative | croce | crocī |
Descendants
- Old Occitan: gròc, gruèc
- Catalan: groc
- →? English: grog
- → Gallurese: grogu
- → Sardinian: grogu
- → Sassarese: grogu
- Occitan: cròc
- Catalan: groc
- Galician: croque
- Italian: croco
- → Catalan: crocus
- → Czech: krokus
- → Dutch: krokus
- → English: crocus
- → Finnish: krookus
- → French: crocus
- → German: Krokus
- → Icelandic: krókus
- → Norwegian: krokus
- → Polish: krokus
- → Portuguese: croco
- → Russian: кро́кус (krókus)
- → Slovene: krokus
- → Spanish: croco
- → Swedish: krokus
- → Translingual: Crocus
References
- crocus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- “crocus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “crocus”, in William Smith, editor (1848) A Dictionary of Greek Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray