cowslip

English

cowslip, Primula veris

Himalayan cowslip, Primula sikkimensis

Alternative forms

• couslip, cowslippe (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English cowslyppe, from Old English cūslyppe (“cowslip”), from cū (“cow”) + slyppe (“paste, viscid substance”), related to Old English slūpan (“to slip, glide, move softly”). Compare oxlip.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaʊ.slɪp/
• Hyphenation: cow‧slip

Noun

cowslip (plural cowslips)

1. A low-growing plant, Primula veris, with yellow flowers.
   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

     Where the bee sucks, there suck I: / In a cowslip's bell I lie;

2. Any of several other plants related or similar in appearance
   1. Primula deorum, a flowering plant known as God's cowslip and rila cowslip
   2. Primula florindae, a flowering plant known as giant cowslip and Tibetan cowslip
   3. Primula sikkimensis, a flowering plant known as Himalayan cowslip and Sikkim cowslip
   4. (Canada, US, regional) marsh marigold, Caltha palustris, a plant in the buttercup family, growing in wet, boggy locations.
   5. Pulmonaria angustifolia, blue cowslip or narrow-leaved lungwort
3. Short for cowslip tea: a kind of green tea; an herbal tea made with cowslip flowers.

Synonyms

• (Primula veris): paigle, herb Peter
• (Caltha palustris): marsh marigold, kingcup, mayflower, mollyblobs, pollyblobs, horse blob

Translations

Primula veris

• Armenian: գնարբուկ (hy) (gnarbuk), գնարբուկ գարնանային (gnarbuk garnanayin), կովացնծուկ (hy) (kovacʻncuk), գովածաղիկ (govacaġik)
• Bulgarian: иглика (bg) f (iglika)
• Catalan: cucut (ca) m
• Czech: prvosenka jarní (cs) f, petrklíč (cs) m
• Dutch: gulden sleutelbloem (nl) f
• Finnish: kevätesikko (fi)
• German: Schlüsselblume
• Hungarian: tavaszi kankalin (hu)
• Irish: bainne bó bleachtáin, bainne bó bleacht
• Korean: 황화구륜초(黃花九輪草) (hwanghwaguryuncho)
• Macedonian: петопрст m (petoprst)
• Persian: پریمولا وریس
• Plautdietsch: Schlätelbloom f
• Punjabi: ਗਾਉਜ਼ਬਾਨ m (gāuzabān)
• Romanian: ciuboțica-cucului (ro) f, limba-cucului (ro) f
• Russian: при́мула (ru) f (prímula), первоцве́т (ru) m (pervocvét)
• Spanish: aurícula (es) f, bellorita f, clavelina f
• Swedish: gullviva (sv) c
• Welsh: briallu Mair (cy) pl, sawdl y fuwch m or f

Caltha palustris

• Finnish: rentukka (fi)
• Romanian: calcea calului (ro) f
• Russian: калу́жница боло́тная f (kalúžnica bolótnaja)
• Spanish: calta palustre f, caléndula acuática f, verruguera f