meadow saffron

American  

noun

1. autumn crocus.

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meadow saffron British  

noun

1. another name for autumn crocus

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Etymology

Origin of meadow saffron

First recorded in 1570–80

Example Sentences

There were not many flowers, only wild asters on the hillside, and meadow saffron in the valleys, and under the beeches, ferns and ivy.

From The Shoemaker's Apron A Second Book of Czechoslovak Fairy Tales and Folk Tales by Fillmore, Parker

Until the purple ling and loosestrife, gave place to mint and maiden pink and late meadow-sweet; and then the hop vine and meadow saffron proclaimed that summer was over.

From The Old Helmet, Volume II by Warner, Susan

Ordinarily, I take shorter holidays; but the flowering of the meadow saffron always warns me that it is time to begin grubbing again.

From The George Sand-Gustave Flaubert Letters by McKenzie, Aimée G. Leffingwel

To Ursula, it was as if the world had opened its softest purest flower, its chicory flower, its meadow saffron.

From The Rainbow by Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)