cowslip means A low-growing plant, Primula veris, with yellow flowers.
cowslip is pronounced /ˈkaʊ.slɪp/.
Why “cowslip” is a great word
A low-growing Eurasian plant, Primula veris, of the primrose family, bearing clusters of fragrant, yellow flowers in spring. From Middle English cowslyppe, from Old English cūslyppe, from cū ("cow") + slyppe ("paste, viscid substance"), referring to the plant's habitat in cow pastures where such droppings are found. Unlike the oxlip, a paler, woodland hybrid, or the primrose, with its solitary blooms on individual stalks, the cowslip gathers its deeper golden bounty into a nodding umbel on a single stem. It is the yellow constellation glimpsed through morning mist in a damp meadow, the honeyed scent rising from grass still wet with dew, and the quiet resilience of beauty that roots itself in the humblest, trafficked earth—the quiet triumph of the overlooked.
Etymology
From Middle English cowslyppe, from Old English cūslyppe (“cowslip”), from cū (“cow”) + slyppe (“paste, viscid substance”), related to Old English slūpan (“to slip, glide, move softly”). Compare oxlip.
noun
- A low-growing plant, Primula veris, with yellow flowers.“Where the bee sucks, there suck I: / In a cowslip's bell I lie;”
- Any of several other plants related or similar in appearance; Primula deorum, a flowering plant known as God's cowslip and rila cowslip
- Any of several other plants related or similar in appearance; Primula florindae, a flowering plant known as giant cowslip and Tibetan cowslip
- Any of several other plants related or similar in appearance; Primula sikkimensis, a flowering plant known as Himalayan cowslip and Sikkim cowslip
- Any of several other plants related or similar in appearance; marsh marigold, Caltha palustris, a plant in the buttercup family, growing in wet, boggy locations.
- Any of several other plants related or similar in appearance; Pulmonaria angustifolia, blue cowslip or narrow-leaved lungwort
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- primrose 89% match — A flowering plant of the genus Primula. vs cowslip →
- eglantine 81% match — A Eurasian rose (Rosa rubiginosa, syn. Rosa eglanteria), having prickly stems, fragrant leaves, pink flowers and red hips. vs cowslip →
- daisy 81% match — A wild flowering plant of species Bellis perennis of the family Asteraceae, with a yellow head and white petals vs cowslip →
- celandine 80% match — Any plant of the genus Chelidonium. vs cowslip →
- meadowsweet 80% match — A Eurasian perennial flowering plant of Rosaceae family, Filipendula ulmaria. vs cowslip →
- daffodil 79% match — A bulbous plant of the genus Narcissus, with yellow flowers and a trumpet shaped corona, especially Narcissus pseudonarcissus, the national flower of Wales. vs cowslip →
- heartsease 79% match — A common European wild flower, Viola tricolor; the wild pansy. vs cowslip →
- meadow 79% match — A field or pasture; a piece of land either intentionally cultivated with grass or (especially) naturally covered with grass, especially one that is intended to be mown for hay or to be grazed. vs cowslip →