daffodil
See also: Daffodil
English
A wild daffodil
Alternative forms
- daffadil (obsolete)
Etymology
Variant of Middle English affodill (“ramson”), from Medieval Latin affodillus, from Latin asphodelus, from Ancient Greek ἀσφόδελος (asphódelos), of Pre-Greek origin. The initial d- is perhaps from merging of the article in Dutch de affodil, the Netherlands being a source for bulbs. (Compare adder, apron, newt, nickname, orange and umpire)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈdæfəˌdɪl/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Adjective
daffodil (comparative more daffodil, superlative most daffodil)
- Of a brilliant yellow color, like that of a daffodil.
Noun
daffodil (plural daffodils)
- A bulbous plant of the genus Narcissus, with yellow flowers and a trumpet shaped corona, especially Narcissus pseudonarcissus, the national flower of Wales.
- c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The VVinters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene iii], page 290, column 1:
- When daffadils begin to peere, / With heigh the Doxy ouer the dale, / Why then comes in the ſweet o’ the yeere, / For the red blood raigns in yͤ winters pale.
- 1807, William Wordsworth, “[I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud]”, in Poems, in Two Volumes, volume II, London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], OCLC 262842809, stanza 1, page 49:
- I wandered lonely as a Cloud / That floats on high o’er Vales and Hills, / When all at once I saw a crowd / A host of dancing Daffodills; / Along the Lake, beneath the trees, / Ten thousand dancing in the breeze.
- 1919 November 20, A[lan] A[lexander] Milne, “Daffodils”, in Not That It Matters, New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton & Company […], published 1920, OCLC 1048023221, page 82:
- Was there ever a more beautiful name in the world than daffodil? Say it over to yourself, and then say “agapanthus” or “chrysanthemum,” or anything else you please, and tell me if the daffodils do not have it.
-
- A brilliant yellow color, like that of a daffodil.
- daffodil:
- a. 1887 (date written), Emily Dickinson, “Where Ships of purple gently toss”, in Mabel Loomis Todd and T[homas] W[entworth] Higginson, editors, Poems, Second Series, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1891, page 11:
- Where ships of purple gently toss / On seas of daffodil, / Fantastic sailors mingle, / And then—the wharf is still.
Derived terms
- poet's daffodil
- sea daffodil
- winter daffodil
Translations
flower
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Related terms
- daff
Coordinate terms
- asphodel
- hippeastrum (Hippeastrum)
- jonquil
- Lent lily
- star grass
- Appendix:Colors
Further reading
daffodil on Wikipedia.Wikipedia