jonquil

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See also: Jonquil

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French jonquille, itself a borrowing from Spanish junquillo.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

jonquil (plural jonquils)

  1. A fragrant bulb flower (Narcissus jonquilla), a species of daffodil. [from 1660s]
  2. A shade of yellow. [from late 18th c.]
    jonquil:  
    • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. [], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, [], published 1842, →OCLC, page 187:
      She had a jonquil silk pelisse, a bonnet of the same colour, with a bird of paradise plume, looking very much like an illuminated butterfly.
    • March 1920, Alice Ballantine Kirjassoff, “FORMOSA THE BEAUTIFUL”, in National Geographic Magazine[1], page 258:
      At sunset dusky ghosts of sampans, laden with families living up the river, glide homeward against a jonquil sky.

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