crocus

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin crocus, from Ancient Greek κρόκος (krókos, “crocus”), from an ancient Semitic language.

noun

1. A perennial flowering plant (of the genus Crocus in the Iridaceae family). Saffron is obtained from the stamens of Crocus sativus.
   Nothing is more short-lived than the erection; like the crocus of spring, it is there for a moment, and then it is gone; one moment the penis is small, soft, and insignificant, and then in the next it is hard, rigid, and three and four times its previous size. 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 128
2. Any of various similar flowering plants, such as the autumn crocus and prairie crocus.
3. (chemistry, obsolete) A deep yellow powder, the oxide of some metal (especially iron), calcined to a red or deep yellow colour.
4. (obsolete, slang) A fraudulent doctor; a quack.

Etymology 2

noun

1. (Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago) Burlap.
   a crocus bag