kiss-her-in-the-buttery
Syllables: kiss-her-in-the-but·te·ry/ˈkɪs həɹ‿ɪn ðə ˈbʌt(ə)ɹi/
kiss-her-in-the-buttery noun: synonym of wild pansy (“Viola tricolor, a European wildflower with medicinal properties, which was formerly believed to ease heartache”).
Noun
kiss-her-in-the-buttery (plural kiss-her-in-the-butteries)
- Synonym of wild pansy (“Viola tricolor, a European wildflower with medicinal properties, which was formerly believed to ease heartache”)
- From its coquettish hanging head and half-hidden face, the Pansy bears a whole catalogue of amatory names: it is Heart's-ease, Love in Idleness, Pink of my John[,] Tittle my Fancy, Jump up and Kiss me, Kiss behind the Garden Gate, Meet-her-in-the-entry-and-kiss-her-in-the-buttery—the longest...[1891, W[illiam] Tuckwell, “Plant-names of Persons, Places, Seasons”, in Tongues in Trees and Sermons in Stones, London: George Allen […], →OCLC, pages 79–80
- The pansy that we love so well and for which our English cousins have so many nicknames is, after all, only a violet that has had a chance. Some call it "Heart's-ease," others "Meet-her-in-the-entry," others "Kiss-her-in-the-buttery," and still others "Jump-up-and-kiss-me" and "Tickle-my-fancy."1917 June, Gilbert H[ovey] Grosvenor, “Our State Flowers: The Floral Emblems Chosen by the Commonwealths”, in Gilbert H. Grosvenor, editor, National Geographic, volume XXXI, number 6, Washington...
- Synonyms:
- wild pansy
Examples of kiss-her-in-the-buttery in a sentence
- Love-in-Idleness, Tickle-My-Fancy, / Heartsease, Kiss-Her-in-the-Buttery, / when I hear the pet names of the pansy / I think I may have to go back to being / in love with my mother.2003, Sharon Olds, “Pansy Glossary”, in The Unswept Room, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN, page 87:
- 'Love-in-idleness is the name I prefer, but lady-in-waiting, kiss-her-in-the-buttery, heartsease, if you must.2021, Samantha Silva, “Mary W”, in Love and Fury, London: Allison & Busby, →ISBN:
Synonyms of kiss-her-in-the-buttery
Forms of kiss-her-in-the-buttery
| plural | kiss-her-in-the-butteries |
|---|
Origin of kiss-her-in-the-buttery
From kiss + her + in + the + buttery (“room for keeping food or beverages, storeroom”), from the way the flower’s petals are said to resemble the faces of two people kissing: see the 1891 and 2010 quotations. Compare other vernacular names for the wild pansy like come-and-cuddle-me, heart’s delight, Jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me, kiss-me-at-the-gate, love-in-idleness, and tickle-my-fancy. (The word buttery is etymologically unrelated to butter, though the latter may have influenced the shift in meaning from “room for keeping alcoholic beverages” to “room for keeping food or beverages”.)
Questions about kiss-her-in-the-buttery
- What does kiss-her-in-the-buttery mean?
- Kiss-her-in-the-buttery means synonym of wild pansy (“Viola tricolor, a European wildflower with medicinal properties, which was formerly believed to ease heartache”).
- How do you use kiss-her-in-the-buttery in a sentence?
- Love-in-Idleness, Tickle-My-Fancy, / Heartsease, Kiss-Her-in-the-Buttery, / when I hear the pet names of the pansy / I think I may have to go back to being / in love with my mother.
- What part of speech is kiss-her-in-the-buttery?
- Kiss-her-in-the-buttery is a noun.
- How do you pronounce kiss-her-in-the-buttery?
- Kiss-her-in-the-buttery is pronounced /ˈkɪs həɹ‿ɪn ðə ˈbʌt(ə)ɹi/ (UK).
- What is the plural of kiss-her-in-the-buttery?
- The plural of kiss-her-in-the-buttery is kiss-her-in-the-butteries.
Words near kiss-her-in-the-buttery in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: kiss-her-in-the-buttery (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-kiss-her-in-the-buttery.wav.
Cite this entry: “kiss-her-in-the-buttery.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kiss-her-in-the-buttery. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.