mouse-ear

English
mouse-ear chickweed (Cerastium vulgatum)

Etymology

From Middle English mousere, musere, equivalent to mouse +‎ ear, in reference to the shape of the leaves.

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmaʊsɪə/

Noun

mouse-ear (plural mouse-ears)

  1. A type of small hawkweed native to Eurasia (Pilosella officinarum), commonly found on dry grasslands. [from 14th c.]
    • 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society 2007, p. 195:
      Mouse-ear is a low herb creeping upon the ground by small strings like the Strawberry plant, whereby it shoots forth small roots […]
  2. A plant of the genus Cerastium (mouse-ear chickweed). [from 16th c.]
  3. A forget-me-not (genus Myosotis). [from 16th c.]
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