mouse-ear

English

mouse-ear chickweed (Cerastium vulgatum)

Etymology

From Middle English mousere, musere, equivalent to mouse +‎ ear, in reference to the shape of the leaves.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmaʊsɪə/

Noun

mouse-ear (plural mouse-ears)

1. A type of small hawkweed native to Eurasia (Pilosella officinarum), commonly found on dry grasslands. [from 14th c.]
   • 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society, published 2007, page 195:

     Mouse-ear is a low herb creeping upon the ground by small strings like the Strawberry plant, whereby it shoots forth small roots […]

2. A plant of the genus Cerastium (mouse-ear chickweed). [from 16th c.]
3. A forget-me-not (genus Myosotis). [from 16th c.]

Derived terms

• Arctic mouse-ear

Related terms

• mouse-eared

Translations

Pilosella officinarum

• Bulgarian: миши уши (miši uši)
• German: Kleines Habichtskraut n
• Irish: searbh na muc m
• Welsh: clust y llygoden f