Meanings
plural prasines
- chemistryPseudomalachite.First known use 19th c.
It is possible that just as chrysocolla is silicated malachite, so prasine is phosphated malachite; the physical appearance of these minerals strongly confirms this view.
1864 November 5, William Crookes, editor, The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science: […] , volume 10, number 257, London: J. H. Dutton, […] , →OCLC, Revision of the Mineral Phosphates, page 217, column 1
comparative more prasine · superlative most prasine
- archaicSynonym of leek-green.First known use 14th c.
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.
1969, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 5, in Ada, or, Ardor: A Family Chronicle, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1970, →ISBN, part 2, page 287Synonyms: leek-green
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveSynonym of leek-green.
Origin
- Ancient Greekπράσινος
- Latinprasinus“leek-green”
- Late Latinprasinum
- Middle Frenchprasine
- Late Latinprasinus
- Middle Frenchprame
- Middle English[Term?]
- Englishprasine
From Middle English [Term?], from a combination of Middle French prame (inherited from Late Latin prasinus) and Middle French prasine (borrowed from Late Latin prasinum), both ultimately from Latin prasinus (“leek-green”), from Ancient Greek πράσινος (prásinos), from πράσον (práson, “leek”).
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
prasine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prasine
“prasine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prasine. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prasine,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prasine.
Source: prasine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.