primrose

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English primerose, also prymrose,^[2][3][4] probably borrowed from Anglo-Norman primerose, compare Old French primerose in the same sense (13th century),^[5][3][4][6] and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin prīma rosa (“first rose”),^[3][4][2][7] from prīma, the feminine of prīmus (“first”), and rosa (“rose”).^[7][3] Barnhart explains that the plant was so called because it flowers early in spring.^[3] The OED, however, finds "first rose" not wholly satisfactory, since the plant is not like a rose; it reports the suggestion that the French word is an alteration of primevoire (“cowslip”) influenced by passerose (“hollyhock”).^[5] Klein and Weekley instead derived it from the earlier primerole, from Old French primerole, from prīmula, with the ending altered after rose;^[8][9] Hoad calls the reason for the name unknown.^[10] Merriam-Webster takes the French word from prime (“first”) and rose.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The common primrose: Barnhart dates prymrose to 1373,^[3] from a Middle English translation of Macer;^[2] the OED's first record is from before 1425, in the Medulla Grammatice.^[5][2] The word was used as a surname, Primerose, in 1365–66,^[3] and Weekley found it as a surname in the 13th century.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century the word was already used figuratively for the first or finest of something, and as a term of endearment,^[5][2] and a cookery dish made with primrose flowers was called a primrose.^[5][2] The figurative sense "prime, first bloom" was used from 1590 to 1650.^[5] The primrose path, a way of pleasure, comes from Shakespeare's Hamlet (1602).^[3][4] The colour sense, pale greenish yellow, is recorded in the OED from 1805, and in Barnhart and Etymonline from 1844.^[5][3][4] The name was also given to other plants: the field daisy (1579) and, in American regional use, a wild rose (1864).^[5] The verb, to gather primroses, is recorded from 1830 and is now rare.^[5][11] In West Yorkshire dialect a primrose was a drink of old and bitter ale mixed.^[12]

Timeline

• 1365–66 – Primerose, as a surname.^[3]
• 1373 – prymrose, the plant.^[3][2]
• before 1450 – figuratively, the first or best of something; a dish made with primroses.^[5][2]
• 1562 – in heraldry, a figure of a primrose.^[5]
• 1590 – prime, first bloom (obsolete by 1650).^[5]
• 1602 – the primrose path, in Hamlet.^[3]
• 1805 – the colour of the primrose flower.^[5]
• 1830 – verb, to gather primroses.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A European plant of the genus Primula, Primula vulgaris, with pale yellow flowers in early spring.^[13][5][11]
2. Any of various other plants of the genus Primula, grown for their bright flowers.^[11][5]
3. The evening primrose.^[13][11]
4. A pale greenish yellow colour.^[13][5]
5. The best or finest part of something.^[11][5]

Adjective

1. Of the pale yellow colour of the primrose: a primrose scarf.^[13][5]
2. Full of primroses, or pleasant and easy, as in the primrose path.^[11][3]

Verb

1. (rare) To gather primroses.^[11][5]

Word family

• bird's-eye primrose
• primrose path
• primrose yellow

Related words

• primula
• prime
• rose
• cowslip

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
13. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins