darnel
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English darnel, dernel, from Old Northern French darnelle ( > dialectal French dernelle, darnette), of Germanic origin, possibly Proto-West Germanic *darjan (“to harm, injure”).
Related to Walloon darne, derne (“stunned, dazed, drunk”), Middle Dutch verdarnt, verdaernt (“stunned, dumbfounded, angry”). The association with being dazed or drunkenness is due to the well-known intoxicating effects of the plant.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈdɑːnəɫ/
Noun edit
darnel (usually uncountable, plural darnels)
- A species of ryegrass, Lolium temulentum, often found in wheat fields and often host to a fungus intoxicating to humans and animals.
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]:
- With harlocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers, / Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow / In our sustaining corn.
- Various species of Lolium, especially as a weed in wheat fields.
Synonyms edit
- (Lolium temulentum): poison darnel
Hyponyms edit
- (various species of ryegrass): Persian darnel, white darnel, red darnel
Translations edit
type of ryegrass found in wheatfields
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See also edit
References edit
- “darnel”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
Further reading edit
- Lolium temulentum on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Lolium temulentum on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
- Lolium temulentum on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
- darnel at USDA Plants database (L. temulentum)
- darnel at USDA Plants database (L. persicum)