Gillyflower
(g soft) is not the Julyflower, but the
French giroflée, from girofle (a clove), called by
Chaucer “gilofre.” The common stock, the wallflower, the rocket, the
clove pink, and several other plants are so called. (Greek karuophullon; Latin, caryophyllum, the clove gillyflower.)
The fairest flowers o' the season
Are our carnations and streaked gillyflowers.
Shakespeare: Winter's Tale, iv. 2.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Gillyflower from Fact Monster:
- wallflower - wallflower wallflower, Mediterranean perennial (Cheiranthus cheiri) of the family Cruciferae ...
- stock, in botany - stock stock, in botany, common name for any species of the genus Matthiola, for Malcomia maritima ...
- gillyflower - gillyflower: gillyflower: see pink; stock; wallflower.
- pink - pink pink, common name for some members of the Caryophyllaceae, a family of small herbs found ...
- Gillyflower - Gillyflower (g soft) is not the Julyflower, but the French giroflée, from girofle (a clove), ...
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