Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- See under primrose(def 1).
noun
- any plant of the genus Primula, as P. vulgaris (English primrose), of Europe, having yellow flowers, or P. sinensis (Chinese primrose), of China, having flowers in a variety of colors.Compare primrose family.
- evening primrose.
- pale yellow.
adjective
- of or relating to the primrose.
- Also prim·rosed. abounding in primroses: a primrose garden.
- of a pale yellow.
noun
- any of various temperate primulaceous plants of the genus Primula, esp P. vulgaris of Europe, which has pale yellow flowers
- short for evening primrose
- Also called: primrose yellow a light to moderate yellow, sometimes with a greenish tinge
adjective
- of, relating to, or abounding in primroses
- of the colour primrose
- pleasant or gay
late 14c., prymrose, from Old French primerose, primerole (12c.) and directly from Medieval Latin prima rosa, literally “first rose,” so called because it blooms early in spring (see prime (adj.)). As the name of a pale yellow color, by 1844.
Parallel name primula (c.1100) is from Old French primerole, from Medieval Latin primula “primrose,” shortened from primula veris “firstling of spring,” thus properly fem. of Latin primulus, diminutive of primus; but primerole was used in Old French and Middle English of other flowers (cowslips, field daisies). The primrose path is from “Hamlet” I, iii.