prasine

English

Etymology

From Middle English [Term?], from a combination of Middle French prame (inherited from Late Latin prasinus) and Middle French prasine (borrowed from Late Latin prasinum), both ultimately from Latin prasinus (“leek-green”), from Ancient Greek πράσινος (prásinos), from πράσον (práson, “leek”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹeɪziːn/

Noun

prasine (plural prasines)

1. (obsolete) A green gem; an emerald. [14th–16th c.]
2. (obsolete) A type of green pigment. [14th–17th c.]
3. (mineralogy) Pseudomalachite. [from 19th c.]
   • 1864, Chemical News, 5 Nov 1864:

     It is possible that just as chrysocolla is silicated malachite, so prasine is phosphated malachite; the physical appearance of these minerals strongly confirms this view.

Adjective

prasine (comparative more prasine, superlative most prasine)

1. (now rare) Leek-green. [from 14th c.]
   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 284:

     He recalled, in passing, the sweetness in his lap, her round little bottom, her prasine eyes as she turned toward him and the receding road.

Synonyms

• leek-green
• porraceous
• prasinous

See also

• leek

Anagrams

• Persian, arpines, asperin, paniers, rapines, saprine, separin

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Latin

Adjective

(deprecated template usage) prasine

1. vocative masculine singular of prasinus