Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Scots A yellow or white wildflower, especially the Old World daisy.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In Scotland, one of several different yellow flowers, as the dandelion, the common marigold, the hawkweed, the globe-flower, etc., but generally the daisy, Bellis perennis. Also gowlan.
- n. The dandelion.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Scot. The daisy, or mountain daisy.
- n. (Min.) Decomposed granite.
Etymologies
- Scots, from Gaelic. (Wiktionary)
- Probably alteration of Middle English gollan, a plant with yellow flowers; akin to Old Norse gullinn, golden, from gull, gold; see ghel-2 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The marigold, or meadow gowan, is one of the "plants of the sun," the "golden flower.”
“Our English Daisy is a composite flower which is called in the glossaries "gowan," or Yellow flower.”
“Bend to earth the gowan fair, down by yon burn side.”
The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume III The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century
“BONNIE PEGGIE, O! Gang wi 'me to yonder howe, bonnie Peggie, O! Down ayont the gowan knowe, bonnie Peggie, O! When the siller burn rins clear,”
The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume IV. The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century
“The lamb likes the gowan wi 'dew when it 's drowkit;”
The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume II. The Songs of Scotland of the past half century
“Where the blue-bell and gowan lurk, lowly, unseen;”
“In my fear I sat up amang my cairpets, like a puddock among gowan-leaves, and I listened wi 'a' my ears.”
“I remember his quoting with dramatic effect the curse uttered by Meg Merrilees upon Ellan-gowan -- a curse which he intended, of course, to apply to Mr. Gladstone.”
“The opening gowan transplanted from its Scottish glen loses its modest charm and grows rank upon the prairies of the West even in its second year.”
“Do you know that this little daisy is the _gowan_ of Scotch poetry?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘gowan’.
-
Writing Exercise 1
Ex 4 & 12 from Creative Writing Coursebook p6 & p26
inveracity, cribble, flux, dag, parergon, fractal, cat, gowan, durmast, zedoary, monophobia, sockdologer and 22 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for gowan.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.