Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A Eurasian plant (Allium ursinum) having edible leaves and bulbs with a pungent garliclike flavor.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A broad-leaved species of garlic (Allium ursinum), common in European gardens; -- called also buckram.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A plant, Allium ursinum, a wild relative of chives and garlic.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English ramsyn, from Old English hramsan, pl. of hramsa.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Back-formation from ramsons; compare Middle English ramsyn (originally plural, taken as singular); Old English hramesan, plural of hramsa ("onion, broad-leafed garlic"), from Proto-Germanic *hramusô (“onion, leek”), from Proto-Indo-European *kermus-, *kremus- (“wild garlic”). Cognate with Scots ramps ("wild garlic"), Danish rams ("ramson"), Swedish ramslök ("wild garlic"). See buckrams.

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Examples

  • Other curios include Thomas Jefferson's great enthusiasm for sea kale; the decision of the 17th-century diarist John Evelyn to introduce endive to England after a spell abroad in exile; and the affection of West Virginians for the flowering ramson, a snappy-tasting plant that they celebrate each spring.

    Anglo-Saxon On the Menu Henry Hitchings 2011

  • I seriously doubt that any self-respecting lover of ramps would celebrate the ramson in West Virginia or anywhere else in the U.S.

    Don't Confuse Your Ramsons With Ramps 2011

  • One of the last truly seasonal foods available in North America, they go by many names including wild leek, ramson, and ail de bois.

    David Becker: Foraging for Wild Ramps and Incredible Flavor 2010

  • One of the last truly seasonal foods available in North America, wild ramps go by many names including wild leek, ramson, and ail de bois.

    David Becker: Foraging for Wild Ramps and Incredible Flavor 2010

  • It started with fresh gulls eggs and celery salt, and then included baked bone marrow with cider vinegar and wild fennel; pig's head with carrots, mead and pennywort; plus suckling kid, new season's onions and ramson.

    The London Restaurant Revolution 2010

  • Here's my view of alliums, since you brought them here: First, despite being in the same family, your example of chives and bear garlic (a.k.a. ramson) are different plants inhabiting different ecologies and facing different selective pressures.

    A Dubious "Opportunity" for IDers 2007

  • The name, “ramp,” is from “ramson,” which is a survival of archaic British dialect, which is one of the roots of Appalachian dialect that peppers the speech of folks native to that region.

    Tigers & Strawberries » Appalachian Wild Leeks 2005

  • Haba, its just like what's currently going on in Lebanon, where Islamic militants are holding the state to ramson.

    Lagos touts again! princesa 2007

  • Apparently, in the British Isles, another wild allium, allium ursinum, grows unfettered by cultivation, and is colloquially called a ramsen or ramson.

    Tigers & Strawberries » Appalachian Wild Leeks 2005

  • Inc. threats and intimidation. we've received a death threat from friends and family of ramson inc. more on this tomorrow. but it would seem as if little ramson has decided it's better to crawl back in his little rat hole at OD [office of the dictator] rather than engage with his enemies. he realised he's being defeated at every corner. but like a good bhar. rat orlittle georgie bush, he's declared victory!!

    propaganda press! freedom now Guyana 2010

Comments

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  • Wild leek, similar to ramps.

    November 2, 2007