daffodil
(ˈdæfədɪl)
Also 6 daffodyll, 6–7 daffo-, daffadill, 7–8 daffadil. (9 daffodel): see also daffodilly, and daffadowndilly.
[A variant of affodill, q.v. The initial d has not been satisfactorily accounted for.
It has been variously suggested as due to childish or playful distortion, as in Ted for Edward, tante for aunt; to union of the article th' (cf. Cotgr., Affrodille, Th' Affodill, and north. Eng. t' affadil); to final d of and, in (e.g.) ‘fennell an-d affodil’; to union of the Dutch or Flemish article, as de affodil = the affodil; and to Fr. prep. d' as in fleur d'aphrodille. It is noteworthy that as in Eng. the word has gained a letter, in 16th c. Fr. it sometimes lost one: Littré (s.v. asphodèle) quotes from De Serres (16th c.), ‘Des racines d' afrodille’, and also ‘Decoction de lapace, de frodilles’. A third form dafrodille is quite conceivable.
Affodill and its popular variants daffodil, daffadilly, were originally and properly the Asphodel; then by popular misconception, due apparently to the application to both plants, at their first introduction to England, of the fanciful name Laus tibi (see Turner Libellus B 3 b), it was applied, especially in the popular variations, to species of Narcissus, etc. Botanists, after resisting this misapplication, compromised the matter by retaining affodil for the Asphodel, and accepting the more popular daffodil for Narcissus. Finally affodil was ‘rectified’ to asfodyl and asphodel, and daffodil restricted in popular use to the Yellow Narcissus or Yellow Daffodil of Eng. fields and gardens.]
† 1. The same as affodill; the genus Asphodelus (formerly including some allied plants). Obs.
| [1538 see affodill.] 1548 Turner Names of Herbes s.v. Albucus, Asphodillus groweth..in gardines in Anwerp, it maye be named in englishe whyte affodil or duche daffodil. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 40 Daffadill, some call Anthericon, the Romanes Kings spare. 1578 Lyte Dodoens v. lxxix. 649 This herbe [Asphodelus in 3 species] is called..in English also Affodyl, and Daffodyll. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 304 Asphodelus (englished by some daffadil). |
† 2. The genus Narcissus, of which it is the common Eng. name in the Catalogue of Gerarde's Garden 1599, where twelve Daffodils or Narcissuses are distinguished, the white daffodil being the common White Narcissus or Poet's Lily (N. poeticus) of Eng. gardens, the ‘White Lily’ of Scotland; the yellow daffodil (N. pseudo-Narcissus) the plant to which the name is now restricted.
| 1548 Turner Names of Herbes (E.D.S.) 10 This that we take for daffodil is a kinde of Narcissus. 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. l. 211 These pleasant flowers are called..in Englishe Narcissus, white Daffodill, and Primerose pierelesse [In Lyte's own annotated copy in the Brit. Mus. Libr. he has written over the figure of N. poeticus on p. 210 ‘White primrose pyerles, Laus tibi, and of some Daffodille’]. 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. lxxxiv. 111 The double white Daffodill of Constantinople [N. orientalis] was sent into England vnto the right Honorable the Lord Treasurer, among other bulbed flowers. 1629 Parkinson Paradisi in Sole iv. (1656) 8 Many idle and ignorant Gardiners..do call some of these Daffodils Narcisses, when as all know that know any Latine, that Narcissus is the Latine name, and Daffodil the English of one and the same thing. |
3. Now restricted to Narcissus pseudo-Narcissus (also called Lent Lily), found wild in various parts of England and cultivated as an early spring flower.
| [1562 Turner Herbal ii. 62 a, Our comen daffadil is one kynde of Narcissus.] 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier (1871) 2 The yellow daffodil, a flower fit for jealous dotterels. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iii. 1 When Daffadils begin to peere, With heigh the Doxy ouer the dale. 1648 Herrick Hesper., To Daffadils, Faire Daffadills, we weep to see You haste away so soone. 1746–7 Hervey Medit. (1818) 129 Who emboldens the daffodil..to trust her flowering gold with inclement and treacherous skies? 1855 Tennyson Maud iii. 6 When the face of night is fair on the dewy downs, And the shining daffodil dies. |
4. chequered daffodil: the Fritillary or Snake's head, Fritillaria Meleagris. Still known as the daffodil in Hants. (Britten and Holland).
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. lxxxix, The checquered Daffodil or Jinny hen floure..checquered most strangely. 1599 ― Catal., Frittillaria, Checkerd Daffodill. |
5. The colour of the daffodil; a pale yellow. Also attrib. or as adj.
| 1855 Tennyson Maud i. xxii. ii, On a bed of daffodil sky. 1884 Pall Mall G. 21 Sept. 1/2 A belt of daffodil in the east announced the approach of dawn. 1886 St. Stephen's Rev. 13 Mar. 14/1 A primrose, a daffodil, or an orange-coloured gown. |