Shamrock
//ˈʃæm.ɹɑk// noun
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The trefoil leaf of any small clover, especially Trifolium repens, or such a leaf from a clover-like plant, commonly used as a symbol of Ireland.
"She wore a shamrock in honor of her Irish ancestry."
- 2 clover native to Ireland with yellowish flowers; often considered the true or original shamrock wordnet
- 3 Any of several species of small clover-like plant species, with trefoil leaves, especially Trifolium repens.
"The fields were covered with shamrocks."
- 4 creeping European clover having white to pink flowers and bright green leaves; naturalized in United States; widely grown for forage wordnet
- 5 Eurasian plant with heart-shaped trifoliate leaves and white purple-veined flowers wordnet
Example
More examples"He came to the Irish with all the signs of an apostle, and when the people asked him to explain the Blessed Trinity, he reached down to the ground and picked up a shamrock."
Etymology
From Irish seamróg, from Old Irish semróc, diminutive of semar, semair (“clover”), from Proto-Celtic *semarā, *semaris (compare Gaulish uisumaris (“clover”)), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *semh₁r-, *smeh₁r-. Related to Old Norse smári (“clover”) and possibly Georgian სამყურა (samq̇ura, “clover”).
Related phrases
More for "shamrock"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.