Let’s start, perhaps, with the most exciting question – with how the word “rose” appeared. In the etymology of this word, you can’t figure it out so simply, so there are several versions explaining the origin of the name of this beautiful flower. According to the most popular of them, the English word “rose” came to us from Latin. Most likely, the Latin word was borrowed from the Etruscan form of the Greek word “Rhodia”, which translates as the one born in Rhodes. This is understandable – according to historical data, the first roses were found on this Greek Island. By the way, in Ancient Rus’, roses for a long time called “shing” – that is, a flower with spikes. After this word was replaced by a rose familiar to us, but the name of another prickly plant, rosehips, retained its original root.
Some people think that the word “rose” comes from the adjective “pink”. Of course, this is a delusion, because in reality everything was exactly the opposite. True, there are several plants in the world whose names descended from the names of shades. One of these flowers is a beloved chrysanthemum. The fact is that this word comes from the Greek “chrysos”, which translates as “gold”. Some of our contemporaries are surprised at what this color has to do with it, because chrysanthemums are not only yellow. In fact, everything is very simple – this name was given to the flower more than two millennia ago, and then the ancient Greeks could see only golden chrysanthemums.
By the way, another plant whose name is associated with a certain color is Iris, who was given the name in honor of the ancient Greek goddess of the rainbow. This fact also raises many questions among many people, because everyone knows that these flowers are not rainbow, and in those days only blue irises were generally found in nature. This strangeness is explained by the fact that for unknown reasons, the ancient Greeks did not know or did not distinguish in blue – even they compared the sea in color with honey. Given this fact, it will cease to seem strange to you that the representatives of this nation saw in iris any color, except blue.
Color is not the only pronounced characteristic of plants by which our distant ancestors gave them the names. So, for example, quite often the name of the flower tells us about its shape. For example, the tulip was called just like that and in no other way due to the fact that in a percussion this word means a turban, to which this flower is really very similar. The same can be said about the gateway, the similarity of which was noticed with a thimble in different countries: in Ireland it is highlighted by a wittican thimble, in France – the glove of the Virgin Mary, and in Germany it was completely believed that this flower grew out of thimbles taken by an evil stepmother at unfortunate orphans.
Another flower named so because of its appearance is Astra. These charming flowers resemble distant stars with thin rays, and that is why their Latin name Aster in translation means “star”. But with cloves, everything is not so obvious. On the one hand, outwardly, this flower is really slightly similar to a nail. On the other hand, many other flowers have this form. As a result, having weighed all the arguments, etymologists came to the conclusion that the matter is not in the form of this plant at all, but in its aroma, which vaguely resembles the smell of the overseas spice of the same name, which is found in almost every kitchen.
By the way, such a confusion is not uncommon for those who are trying to get to the bottom of the truth and find out why one or another flower is called that way, and not somehow differently. So, for example, it is still not clear for certain where the name of the Narcissus came from. On the one hand, at first glance, it seems that this plant was named after the young man – the hero of the ancient Greek legend. On the other hand, versed in the history of the word, scientists found out that it came to us from the Persian language and means “freeze” or “roaming”. Remembering the instructive story of the Narcissus, it becomes unclear whether the flower was named in honor of the young man, or the young man in honor of the flower.
By the way, it was in ancient Greece that they gave the names and two other beautiful colors – Piono and hyacinte. According to the first legend, Peon was a healer and student of Asclepius, the god of healing. Once the young man cured the god Aida, and for this the teacher hated him. Peon was so afraid of death that he turned to the gods for help, and they, in gratitude for the fact that he always helped them, turned him into a wonderful peony. As for the hyacinth, the name of this plant translates as “rain flower”. According to the legend of the Greeks, the name of the flower was given in honor of the young man who was a friend of the gods. Once he competed with Apollo in the throwing of the disk. Zephyr, the god of the southern wind, wanted to help hyacinth. When he threw the disk, Zephyr blew at him, but the misfortune happened: the disk hit the young man in the face and killed him. Saddened by the death of a friend, Apollo turned drops of his blood into beautiful flowers.
Of course, these are far from all beautiful stories that you can tell about the colors and their names. True, it is worth remembering that you should not only know about colors, but also use your knowledge in real life. Give flowers to your relatives and friends, order the design of the balcony with flowers, decorate your garden, house and cottage with lush plants. Do not know where to buy chic bouquets at reasonable prices? There are many stores in Moscow, among which we want to highlight one – Flower -Shop. . Reviews of customers of this store are extremely positive and positive, and this is not surprising: Flower-Shop florists. know how to create real flower fairy tales and embody the most daring dreams of customers. Feel free to go to the site of this store where you can find thousands of flower compositions, interesting publications and numerous master classes!