love-in-idleness

1 9.9

A common European wildflower with purple, yellow and white flowers that garden pansies come from

noun

: amor en la pereza

Many cultivated pansies trace their origins to the wildflower known as love-in-idleness.

Examples

The garden was filled with beautiful love-in-idleness flowers.
The old cottage garden was sprinkled with love-in-idleness beside the roses and foxgloves.
Shakespeare mentioned love-in-idleness in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' as a magical flower.
Have you ever seen a love-in-idleness bloom?
The garden was filled with vibrant love-in-idleness flowers, their purple and yellow petals attracting visitors.
She carefully planted love-in-idleness in her garden, hoping it would blossom beautifully in spring.
During our walk, we saw love-in-idleness growing along the path, showcasing its delicate purple and white flowers.

Synonyms

Viola tricolor

vslove-in-idleness

Specialized

9.0

A small wild flower from Europe that many garden pansies come from

is the familiar English garden name rather than the Latin term

wild pansy

vslove-in-idleness

4.9

A small wildflower from Europe with three coloured petals

is the poetic or traditional garden name used in literature

heartsease

vslove-in-idleness

9.9

A small wild flower like a pansy with colorful petals

is the descriptive botanical term noting colours and garden derivation

Surface Forms

love-in-idleness singular

love-in-idlenesses plural

Morphology

love-in-idleness = love + idleness (opaque) = in + love + idle + ness

Although built from 'love', the preposition 'in', and 'idleness', the compound is an idiomatic plant name whose meaning 'a wildflower' is not derivable from its parts.

Etymology

Love-in-idleness has the clear parts love and idleness, and one popular story says a drop of the flower's juice could cause 'love'; Shakespeare even used it as a magic flower in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', so the name helps you remember this small wild pansy is tied to love and the old idea of a love potion.