daffodil

English

Alternative forms

• affodill (obsolete)
• daffadil (obsolete)

Etymology

Variant of Middle English affodill (“ramson”), from Medieval Latin affodillus, from Latin asphodelus, from Ancient Greek ἀσφόδελος (asphódelos), of Pre-Greek origin. The initial d- is perhaps from merging of the article in Dutch de affodil, the Netherlands being a source for bulbs (compare adder, apron, newt, nickname, orange and umpire for this rebracketing process). Doublet of asphodel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdæfəˌdɪl/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Audio (US)

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Noun

daffodil (countable and uncountable, plural daffodils)

1. (countable) A bulbous plant of the genus Narcissus, with yellow flowers and a trumpet shaped corona, especially Narcissus pseudonarcissus, the national flower of Wales.
   • c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 290, column 1:

     When daffadils begin to peere, / With heigh the Doxy ouer the dale, / Why then comes in the ſweet o’ the yeere, / For the red blood raigns in yͤ winters pale.

   • 1807, William Wordsworth, “[I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud]”, in Poems, in Two Volumes, volume II, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, , →OCLC, stanza 1, page 49:

     I wandered lonely as a Cloud / That floats on high o’er Vales and Hills, / When all at once I saw a crowd / A host of dancing Daffodills; / Along the Lake, beneath the trees, / Ten thousand dancing in the breeze.

   • 1919 November 20, A[lan] A[lexander] Milne, “Daffodils”, in Not That It Matters, New York, N.Y.: E P Dutton & Company , published 1920, →OCLC, page 82:

     Was there ever a more beautiful name in the world than daffodil? Say it over to yourself, and then say “agapanthus” or “chrysanthemum,” or anything else you please, and tell me if the daffodils do not have it.

2. A brilliant yellow color, like that of a daffodil.

   daffodil:  

   • a. 1887 (date written), Emily Dickinson, “Where Ships of purple gently toss”, in Mabel Loomis Todd and T[homas] W[entworth] Higginson, editors, Poems, Second Series, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1891, page 11:

     Where ships of purple gently toss / On seas of daffodil, / Fantastic sailors mingle, / And then—the wharf is still.

Coordinate terms

• (flower): asphodel, hippeastrum (Hippeastrum), jonquil, Lent lily, star grass
• (color): Appendix:Colors

Derived terms

Related terms

• daff

Translations

Adjective

daffodil (comparative more daffodil, superlative most daffodil)

1. Of a brilliant yellow color, like that of a daffodil.

Further reading

• daffodil on Wikipedia.Wikipedia