Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRIM'ROSE, n. [s as z. L. primula veris; primus, first, and rosa, a rose, literally, the first or an early rose in spring.]

A plant of the genus Primula, of several varieties, as the white, the red, the yellow flowered, &c. Shakspeare used the word for gay or flowery; as, the primrose way.