gowan

American  

[gou-uhn] / ˈgaʊ ən /

noun

Scot. and North England.

1. any of various yellow or white field flowers, especially the English daisy.

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gowan British  

/ ˈɡaʊən /

noun

1. any of various yellow or white flowers growing in fields, esp the common daisy

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Other Word Forms

• gowaned adjective
• gowany adjective

Etymology

Origin of gowan

1560–70; earlier gollan < Old Norse gollinn golden

Example Sentences

Flows Yarrow sweet, as sweet flows Tweed, As green its grass, its gowan as yellow, As sweet smells on its braes the birk, The apple frae the rock as mellow.

From The Genius of Scotland or Sketches of Scottish Scenery, Literature and Religion by Turnbull, Robert

And then the Scotch! cropping out everywhere as blithe, and expressive, and unexpected as a gowan or sweet-briar rose, with an  occasional thistle, sturdy, erect, and bristling with Nemo me.

From Spare Hours by Brown, John

The stalk indeed is slender, but it sways without danger of breaking in the blast; in the calm it reposes as gently as the gowan at its root.

From Recreations of Christopher North, Volume I (of 2) by Wilson, John Lyde

Five miles to the right, Mauchline shows its red complexion on the green hillside, and awakens lyric memories of Burns's imperishable mouse and share-torn gowan.

From Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of Scotland by Holmes, Daniel Turner

Meet me on the gowan lea, Bonnie Mary, sweetest Mary; Meet me on the gowan lea, My ain, my artless Mary.

From The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume V. The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century by Rogers, Charles