| 释义 |
† ˈbutter-flower Obs.
[cf. Ger. butterblume: perh. from colour of the flower, but see quots. 1607 and 1762; the notion expressed in the latter is common both in England and Germany, but is unfounded, as cows do not eat the buttercup.]
1. An older name of the buttercup, q.v.
1578Lyte Dodoens iii. lxxiv. 422 Some do also name it..in Englishe Goldcuppes, Goldknoppes, and Butterflowers. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 56 There is an herb much like crow-foot, called of the Germans ‘Butter-bloumen’, and in English ‘butter-flower’, which is used to colour butter. 1692Poems in Burlesque 9 New Rigg'd and gay, As Beaux or Butter-flowers in May. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) VIII. 54 A verdant field overspread with butter-flowers, and daisies. 1762B. Stillingfl. Nat. Hist. in Misc. Tracts 359 It is a notion that prevails commonly that cows eat the crow-foot..and that this occasions the butter to be yellow, from whence I suppose it is generally known by the name of the butter-flower. But this I believe is all a mistake. 1792[see buttercup 2]. 1829Loudon Encycl. IV. 724 Butter-flower or Butter-cup is a species of Crowfoot. 1839Hooper Med. Dict. 290.
2. blue butterflower: some unknown plant.
1599A. M. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physic 201/1 Take blewe butterflowers. |