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Webster 1913 Edition
Pimpernel
Pim′per-nel
,Noun.
[F.
pimprenelle
; cf. Sp. pimpinela
, It. pimpinella
; perh. from LL. bipinnella
, for bipinnula
two-winged, equiv. to L. bipennis
; bis
twice + penna
feather, wing. Cf. Pen
a feather.] (Bot.)
A plant of the genus
Anagallis
, of which one species (Anagallis arvensis
) has small flowers, usually scarlet, but sometimes purple, blue, or white, which speedily close at the approach of bad weather.