What does gowan mean?
Gowan is a chiefly Scottish word for a daisy, particularly the familiar white-petalled common daisy. Rather than using it as a formal botanical term, speakers of Scottish and northern English traditionally employ it in ordinary descriptions of meadows, gardens, and wildflowers. The word often carries a rural, nostalgic, or poetic association, so it appears naturally in verse, songs, and descriptions of the Scottish landscape, although it is also fully ordinary in regional conversation. To readers unfamiliar with it, gowan may sound archaic or obscure, but it remains a vivid example of how local English vocabulary preserves familiar names for common plants. It should not be confused with a gown, a long formal dress; the words may look alike in print but belong to quite different vocabulary histories.
nounA daisy, especially the common daisy (Bellis perennis).
- A daisy, especially the common daisy (Bellis perennis).
"A scatter of gowans brightened the grass beside the path."
"The child picked a gowan and held it proudly by its stem."
"The poem describes gowans closing their petals as evening approaches."
The regular plural is gowans, though the word is most often encountered in dialect, literary, or poetic contexts.
"The gowans opened across the sunlit hillside."
In Scottish English, the familiar daisy has a distinctly Celtic name: gowan.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does gowan come from?
Gowan comes from Scottish Gaelic gowan, the Gaelic word for a daisy. It was adopted into Scots, from which its present English dialect use developed. The word is now chiefly associated with Scottish and northern English speech and has also acquired a poetic or literary character.
How gowan is actually used
Gowan is primarily a Scottish and northern English dialect word. It is literary and traditional in use, and may sound poetic or regional to speakers of standard British or American English.
Easily confused with gowan
Gowan is a regional word for a daisy, whereas a gown is a long formal dress or robe.