precoce, a. (n.) rare.
(prɪˈkəʊs)
[a. F. précoce, ad. L. præcoc-em early ripe, premature, f. præcoquĕre to boil beforehand, ripen fully, f. præ, pre- A. 1 + coquĕre to cook. Cf. precoque.]
1. Of plants: Early flowering.
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 198 Common, double, and single Primroses, Præcoce Tulips. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 359 The Præcoce Tulip, Winter Aconite, some sorts of Anemonies. |
2. = precocious 2.
| 1689 Evelyn Diary 27 Jan., I had read of divers forward and precoce youths. 1868 M. Collins Sweet Anne Page I. viii. 191 Is he not a trifle too precoce? |
B. as n. An early plant; spec. = precoce tulip.
| 1699 Evelyn Acetaria (1729) 157 The Hot Beds for the raising of those Præcoces. 1721 Mortimer Husb. II. 240, I shall begin with the Precoces or early blowing Tulips. |
Hence † preˈcoceness (precose-), precocity, earliness in flowering or fruiting. Obs.
| 1664 Evelyn Sylva 78 As to this extraordinary Precoseness, the like is reported of a certain Walnut-tree, as well as of the famous White-thorn of Glastonbury. |