darnel

English

Etymology

From Middle English darnel, dernel, from Old Northern French darnelle ( > dialectal French dernelle, darnette), of Germanic origin, possibly Proto-West Germanic *darjan (“to harm, injure”).

Related to Walloon darne, derne (“stunned, dazed, drunk”), Middle Dutch verdarnt, verdaernt (“stunned, dumbfounded, angry”). The association with being dazed or drunkenness is due to the well-known intoxicating effects of the plant.

Pronunciation

Noun

darnel (usually uncountable, plural darnels)

  1. Any of genus Lolium of grasses, especially as a weed in wheat fields.
    Synonym: ryegrass
    1. especially, species Lolium temulentum, often host to a fungus intoxicating to humans and animals.
    Synonyms: bearded darnel, poison darnel, white darnel
    • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]:
      With harlocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers, / Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow / In our sustaining corn.
    • 1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 102:
      Poppies, hemp, and darnel were scavenged, dried, and ground up to produce a medieval hash brownie known as "crazy bread".

Synonyms

  • (Lolium temulentum):

Derived terms

Translations

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