Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun botany Any plant of the genus Primula; the primroses.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Short for Medieval Latin prīmula vēris, cowslip, primrose (literally, “little first one of spring”) : Latin prīmula, little first one (from feminine of prīmulus, diminutive of prīmus, first; see prime) + Latin vēris, genitive of vēr, spring.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

The genus Primula was named by botanist Carl von Linnaeus (1707-1778) after Latin primus ("first") because it flowers early.

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