Meanings
plural darnels
- uncountableusuallyAny of the genus Lolium of grasses, especially as a weed in wheat fields.
With harlocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers, / Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow / In our sustaining corn.
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]1 more example
Poppies, hemp, and darnel were scavenged, dried, and ground up to produce a medieval hash brownie known as "crazy bread".
1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 102Synonyms: ryegrass, bearded darnel, poison darnel, white darnel
- uncountableusuallyEspecially, the species Lolium temulentum, often host to a fungus toxic to humans and animals.
Synonyms: ryegrass, bearded darnel, poison darnel, white darnel
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny of the genus Lolium of grasses, especially as a weed in wheat fields.
nounEspecially, the species Lolium temulentum, often host to a fungus toxic to humans and animals.
More synonyms by meaning
nounweedy annual grass often occurs in grainfields and other cultivated land; seeds sometimes considered poisonous
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-West Germanic*darjan“to harm, injure”
- Old Northern Frenchdarnelle
- Middle Englishdarnel
- Englishdarnel
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”). Displaced native Old English boþen. 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.
More words from Middle English, Old Northern French, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek αἶρα, ζιζάνιον
- αἶρα (aîra)type of ryegrass found in wheatfields
- ζιζάνιον (zizánion)type of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Basque iraka
- irakatype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Bulgarian глушица
- глушица (glušica)type of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Catalan jull, zitzània
- julltype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
- zitzàniatype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Chinese 毒麥 /毒麦
- 毒麥 /毒麦 (dúmài)type of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Danish giftig rajgræs
- giftig rajgræstype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Dutch dolik
- doliktype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Esperanto lolo
- lolotype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Finnish myrkkyraiheinä
- myrkkyraiheinätype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
French ivraie enivrante
- ivraie enivrantetype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
German Taumel-Lolch, Taumellolch
- Taumel-Lolchtype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
- Taumellolchtype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
- Rauschgrastype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Hebrew זוּן
- זוּן (zún)type of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Hungarian szédítő vadóc, konkolyperje
- szédítő vadóctype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
- konkolyperjetype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Italian zizzania, loglio
- zizzaniatype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
- logliotype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Japanese 毒麦
- 毒麦 (dokumugi)type of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Latin lolium
- loliumtype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Polish życica roczna
- życica rocznatype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Portuguese joio, cizânia
- joiotype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
- cizâniatype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Romanian sălbăție
- sălbățietype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Russian пле́вел опьяня́ющий, пле́вел пьяня́щий
- пле́вел опьяня́ющий (plével opʹjanjájuščij)type of ryegrass found in wheatfields
- пле́вел пьяня́щий (plével pʹjanjáščij)type of ryegrass found in wheatfields
- головоло́м (golovolóm)type of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Spanish cizaña, cizaña forrajera
- cizañatype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
- cizaña forrajeratype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
- espantapájarostype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Swedish dårrepe
- dårrepetype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Turkish delice, acımık
- delicetype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
- acımıktype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
- karaçayırtype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Welsh efrau
- efrautype of ryegrass found in wheatfields
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
darnel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/darnel
“darnel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/darnel. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “darnel,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/darnel.
Source: darnel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.