koekoeksbloem

Dutch

Etymology

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
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Noun

koekoeksbloem f (plural koekoeksbloemen, diminutive koekoeksbloempje n or koekoeksbloemetje n)

  1. Any plant of the (former) genus Lychnis, now generally included in the genus Silene
    Hypernym: silene

Derived terms

Further reading
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