Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of a light-green color, inclining to yellow.
- In heraldry, same as
vert . Alsoprasin .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From a combination of Anglo-Norman prame, Middle French prame (from Late Latin prasinus) and Middle French prasine (from Late Latin prasinum), both ultimately from Latin prasinus ("leek-green"), from Ancient Greek πράσινος, from πράσον ("leek").
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Examples
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yarb commented on the word prasine
He recalled, in passing, the sweetness in his lap, her round little bottom, her prasine eyes as she turned toward him and the receding road.
- Nabokov, Ada, or Ardor
June 4, 2008
rolig commented on the word prasine
What does Nabokov mean by "prasine", yarb? Greenish? A particular kind of green?
The word seems to be one of those animal adjectives, like equine, ursine, gamine, etc. In Slavic languages, the root pras- or poros- refers to swine (in Slovene, prasec means "pig", though it's usually used as a derogatory word for a man, like "you bastard!"; in Russian porosyonok means "piglet"), so I wonder if Nabokov might have chosen "prasine" because at the back of his Russian mind it echoed with "porcine"?
June 4, 2008
yarb commented on the word prasine
Yes - you might be right - thanks for the great comment!
When I read it I immediately associated it with praline and took it to indicate not brownness (she doesn't have brown eyes) but nuttiness, crunchiness - the eyes being the window to the soul. This is how I parse any word I don't know - I just let it flow through me, despositing whatever sediment it can.
But I notice mollusque has it listed under Chromonyms, so it must be a colour of some kind.
June 4, 2008
mollusque commented on the word prasine
It means "leek-green".
June 5, 2008
yarb commented on the word prasine
Not at all nutty?
June 5, 2008
rolig commented on the word prasine
So she has "leeky" eyes! But it would be typical of Nabokov if he also intended a resonance with "porcine" inspired by the Slavic pras- root.
June 5, 2008
mollusque commented on the word prasine
It's also an obsolete word for emerald, so Nabokov could have been referring to that.
June 5, 2008