On Tue, Jan 29, 2002 at 08:41:45PM +0100, Otto Stolz wrote:
> So my questions are:
>
> - Do "shamrock", "trefoil", and "clover" denote the same
> family of plants?
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English [gcide]:
Shamrock [...]
Note: The original plant was probably a kind of wood sorrel
({Oxalis Acetocella}); but now the name is given to the
white clover ({Trifolium repens}), and the black medic
({Medicago lupulina}).
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 1.7 [wn]:
shamrock
n 1: creeping European clover having white to pink flowers and
bright green leaves; naturalized in United States;
widely grown for forage [syn: {white clover}, {dutch
clover}, {Trifolium repens}]
2: Eurasian plant with heart-shaped trifoliate leaves and white
pink- or purple-veined flowers [syn: {common wood sorrel},
{cuckoo bread}, {Oxalis acetosella}]
3: clover native to Ireland with yellowish flowers; often
considered the true or original shamrock [syn: {hop clover},
{lesser yellow trefoil}, {Trifolium dubium}]
From English to Latin dictionary [eng-lat]:
shamrock [ʃæmrɔk]
trifolium
From WordNet (r) 1.7 [wn]:
trefoil
n 1: any of several Old World herbs of the genus Medicago having
small flowers and trifoliate compound leaves [syn: {medic},
{medick}]
2: a plant of the genus Trifolium [syn: {clover}]
3: an architectural ornament in the form of three arcs arranged
in a circle
I'd see yes, with the stipulation that clover and trefoil are more
general than shamrock.
-- David Starner - starner@okstate.edu, dvdeug/jabber.com (Jabber) Pointless website: http://dvdeug.dhis.org What we've got is a blue-light special on truth. It's the hottest thing with the youth. -- Information Society, "Peace and Love, Inc."
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