colchicum autumnale
noun · n
Simple meaning
Bulbous autumn-flowering herb with white, purple or lavender-and-white flowers.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kawlchuhkuhmawtuhmnahleeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɔltʃəkəmɔtəmnɑli
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Bulbous autumn-flowering herb with white, purple or lavender-and-white flowers; native to western and central Europe
n
Colchicum autumnale, commonly known as autumn crocus, meadow saffron, naked boys or naked ladies,A R Clapham, T G Tutin and E F Warburg, Flora of the British Isles, second edition, 1962, p 982 is a toxic autumn-blooming flowering plant that resembles the true crocuses, but is a member of the plant family Colchicaceae, unlike the true crocuses, which belong to the family Iridaceae.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Bulbous autumn-flowering herb with white, purple or lavender-and-white flowers; native to western and central Europe
Used this way, colchicum autumnale is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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