crocus
pronunciation
How to pronounce crocus in British English:
UK [ˈkrəʊkəs]
How to pronounce crocus in American English:
US [ˈkroʊkəs]
-
- Noun:
- any of numerous low-growing plants of the genus Crocus having slender grasslike leaves and white or yellow or purple flowers; native chiefly to the Mediterranean region but widely cultivated
Word Origin
- crocus (n.)
- late 14c., from Latin crocus, from Greek krokos "saffron, crocus," probably of Semitic origin (compare Arabic kurkum), ultimately from Sanskrit kunkumam, unless the Sanskrit word is from the Semitic one. The autumnal crocus (Crocus sativa) was a common source of yellow dye in Roman times, and was perhaps grown in England, where the word existed as Old English croh, but this form of the word was forgotten by the time the plant was re-introduced in Western Europe by the Crusaders.
Example
- 1. Saffron is the dried stigma of crocus flowers .
- 2. The crocus is a herald of spring .
- 3. Determination and analysis of eight metal elements in the stigma of crocus sativus .
- 4. The dried ripe seeds or corms of the autumn crocus , both of which yield .
- 5. Any of numerous low-growing plants of the genus crocus having slender grasslike leaves and white or yellow or purple flowers ; native chiefly to the mediterranean region but widely cultivated .