sengreen Now dial. (see Eng. Dial. Dict. s. vv. Sengreen, Silgreen, Singreen).
(ˈsɛngriːn)
Forms: α. 1 singréne, 3, 6 sin-, (5 sine-), 5–6 sen-, (6 sene-), syngrene, (5 sygryme, 6 singren), 6–7 sengreene, (7 sean-, sem-, syngreen), 7– sengreen. β. 5 silfgrene, 6 selfegre(e)ne, 9 dial. sil(l)green, etc.
[OE. singréne, subst. use of singréne adj., evergreen:— OTeut. *sengrōnjo-, f. *sen-:—pre-Teut. *sem- one, always (in Goth. sin-teins daily, OE. sin-niht eternal night; cogn. w. L. semel once, semper always, sim-plex simple, Gr. εἷς:—*sems, etc.) + *grōnjo- green a. Cf. MLG. singrone, MDu. sindegroen (mod.Du. senegroen), MHG. singrüen (mod.G. sinngrün), names for periwinkle and other evergreen plants; ON. s{iacu}gr{obaracu}nn adj., evergreen.]
1. The houseleek, Sempervivum tectorum.
| α c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 152 Ðeos wyrt þe man singrene nemneð..ys swyðe fremful. c 1265 Voc. Plants in Wr.-Wülcker 558 Iouis barba, iubarbe, singrene. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 64 Rubarbe [read iubarbe], i. sengrene. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 853 Thy seed with Iuce of rukel or syngrene To wete, vp sleeth the rukel. 1601 Holland Pliny xxvi. vii. II. 247 Or els to take Iubarbe, i. Sengreene, to the same effect. 1641 French Distill. iv. (1651) 104 Macerate them in water of Sengreen. 1874 Hardy Far from Madding Crowd ix, The houseleek or sengreen. |
| β c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 787 Hoc jurbarium, a silfgrene. 1526 Grete Herball ccclxxxi. (1529) X ij, De semper viua Howsleke or selfegrene. 1570 Levins Manip. 69/43 Selfegreene, semper viuum. 1825 E. Hewlett Cottage Comforts xi, Mallow..and houseleek, (or sillgreen). |
b. Her. Used as a bearing.
| c 1550 Arms of Caius in J. W. Clark Cambridge (1881) 69 In the mydelle of the cheyfe sengrene resting vppon the heades of ii serpentes in pale. |
2. Applied to other plants,
esp. a. the sedums;
b. varieties of saxifrage;
c. the periwinkle,
Vinca minor;
d. water sengreen,
Stratiotes aloides.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 54 Þa smalan singrenan. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 175 That which is commonly cauled Sengrene or Orpin. 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. lxxvii. 114 Amongst the kindes of Sengreene also, at this time there is conteyned, the herbe (called Crassula minor) whiche is great stone Crop, called of some wilde Prickmadam, or wormegrasse. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cclxxxv. 677 Water Sengreene, or fresh water Soldier. 1629 Parkinson Parad. 231 Sedum serratum flore rubente maculato. The Princes Feather. This kinde of Sengreene is composed of heads of larger..leaues. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Saxifraga, Saxifraga Alpina ericoides, flore cæruleo... Mountain Heath⁓like Sengreen with a blue Flower. 1777 Jacob Plantæ Faversh. 102 White Saxifrage, or Sen-green. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 402 Chrysosplenium alternifolium... Alternate-leaved Sengreen. a 1851 W. A. Bromfield Flora Vect. (1856) 306 Vinca minor, L. Lesser Periwinkle. Vect. Sengreen. |