Wiktionary

crocus

See also: Crocus

English

edit
 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
 
Crocus sativus

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

Borrowed from Latin crocus, from Ancient Greek κρόκος (krókos, “crocus”), from an ancient Semitic language.

Noun

edit

crocus (plural crocuses or croci or crocus or crocusses)

  1. A perennial flowering plant (of the genus Crocus in the Iridaceae family). Saffron is obtained from the stamens of Crocus sativus.
    • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 128:
      Nothing is more short-lived than the erection; like the crocus of spring, it is there for a moment, and then it is gone; one moment the penis is small, soft, and insignificant, and then in the next it is hard, rigid, and three and four times its previous size.
  2. Any of various similar flowering plants, such as the autumn crocus and prairie crocus.
  3. (inorganic chemistry, obsolete) A deep yellow powder, the oxide of some metal (especially iron), calcined to a red or deep yellow colour.
  4. (obsolete, slang) A fraudulent doctor; a quack.
Derived terms
edit
Derived terms
Translations
edit

Etymology 2

edit

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “From croker?”)

Noun

edit

crocus (uncountable)

  1. (Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago) Burlap.
    a crocus bag

Anagrams

edit

Catalan

edit

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from Latin crocus, from Ancient Greek κρόκος (krókos, “crocus”).

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

crocus m (invariable)

  1. crocus

Further reading

edit

French

edit

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from Latin crocus, from Ancient Greek κρόκος (krókos, “crocus”).

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

crocus m (plural crocus)

  1. crocus (plant)

Further reading

edit

Latin

edit
 
crocus (crocus plant)

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

From Ancient Greek κρόκος (krókos, “crocus”).

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

crocus m (genitive crocī); second declension

  1. crocus, saffron

Usage notes

edit

Most often, the masculine crocus was used to refer to the plant, while the neuter crocum was used for saffron gathered from the plant. However, this distinction is not universally observed, and the word crocus may refer either to the crocus plant or to saffron taken from the plant.

Declension

edit

Second-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative crocus crocī
Genitive crocī crocōrum
Dative crocō crocīs
Accusative crocum crocōs
Ablative crocō crocīs
Vocative croce crocī

Descendants

edit

References

edit
  • crocus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • “crocus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • “crocus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=crocus&oldid=79623366"