darnel
pronunciation
How to pronounce darnel in British English:
UK ['dɑ:nəl]
How to pronounce darnel in American English:
US ['dɑnəl]
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- Noun:
- weedy annual grass often occurs in grainfields and other cultivated land; seeds sometimes considered poisonous
Word Origin
- darnel (n.)
- weed growing in grainfields, c. 1300, from northern dialectal French darnelle; according to one theory, the the second element is Old French neelle (Modern French nielle) "cockle," from Vulgar Latin nigella "black-seeded," from fem. of Latin nigellus "blackish." But perhaps rather the word is related to Middle Dutch verdaernt, verdarnt "stunned, dumbfounded, angry," Walloon darne, derne "stunned, dazed, drunk," the plant so called from its well-known inebriating property. Long noted for its "poisonous" properties (actually caused by fungus growing on the plant); The French word for it is ivraie, from Latin ebriacus "intoxicated," and the botanical name, Lolium temulentum, is from Latin temulent "drunken," though this sometimes is said to be "from the heavy seed heads lolling over under their own weight." In some parts of continental Europe it appears the seeds of darnel have the reputation of causing intoxication in men, beasts, and birds, the effects being sometimes so violent as to produce convulsions. In Scotland the name of Sleepies, is applied to darnel, from the seeds causing narcotic effects. [Gouverneur Emerson, "The American Farmer's Encyclopedia," New York, 1860. It also mentions that "Haller speaks of them as communicating these properties to beer."]
Example
- 1. And the field is the world , and the good seed , these are the sons of the reign , and the darnel are the sons of the evil one .
- 2. " Darnel : any of several eurasian grasses of the genus lolium , especially l. temulentum or l. perenne . "
- 3. Suffer both to grow together till the harvest , and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers , gather up first the darnel , and bind it in bundles , to burn it , and the wheat gather up into my storehouse .