koekoeksbloem
Appearance
Dutch
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From koekoek (“cuckoo”) + -s- + bloem (“flower”). Various theories have been proposed for the name, including that it is named after the cuckoo because the cuckoo's song is first heard again around the same time these flowers bloom in spring (which is not necessarily exactly true), or that it is named after the foam left behind by spittlebugs, which supposedly was named koekoeksspog (literally “cuckoo's spittle”) and associated particularly with these plants.
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio: (file)
Noun
[edit]koekoeksbloem f (plural koekoeksbloemen, diminutive koekoeksbloempje n or koekoeksbloemetje n)
- any plant of the (former) genus Lychnis, now generally included in the genus Silene
- Hypernym: silene
Derived terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- koekoeksbloem on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia nl