forget-me-not

Etymology

It is formed from English forget + me + not,^[2] translating the Old French name of the flower, ne m'oubliez mie (“do not forget me”),^{[3][2][4][5][6][7]} also in Middle French ne m'oubliez mye,^[8] now French ne m'oubliez pas.^[7] The French name was translated into other languages as well: Middle High German vergiȥ mîn niht, now German Vergissmeinnicht, and Swedish förgätmigej,^[2][3][7] and Klein adds Dutch vergeet-mij-nietje, Hungarian nefelejcs and Slovak nezabudka as direct or indirect loan translations of it.^[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The plant Myosotis, especially the water forget-me-not with its bright blue flowers: about 1533, in Giles Du Wes's Introductorie for to lerne Frenche.^[2] Merriam-Webster's first date is 1532,^[9] and Etymonline's the 1530s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The name reflects a 15th-century belief that whoever wore the flower would never be forgotten by a lover,^[2][3][5] and the Shorter Oxford notes that it was worn as a lover's token.^[6] From 1578 to 1597 the name was also given to the ground pine, a use the OED calls apparently only English; it was unsure whether that plant was credited with the same power or named for the nauseous taste it leaves in the mouth.^[2] From 1853 it was applied to the germander speedwell, as German writers had done in the 15th and 16th centuries.^[2] Since 1865 it has also been used with qualifying words for other species of Myosotis.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1533 – the plant Myosotis.^[2]
• 1578 – the ground pine (obsolete by 1597).^[2]
• 1853 – the germander speedwell.^[2]
• 1865 – with qualifying words, other species of Myosotis.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Any of various small plants of the genus Myosotis, of the borage family, with clusters of small, usually blue flowers; also called scorpion grass: Forget-me-nots grew along the edge of the pond.^{[10][9][6][2]}
2. The germander speedwell.^[2]

Related words

• forget

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins