English
cranesbill
Cranesbill may come from Latin geranium.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgeraniumuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2007cranesbill
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgeraniumuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2007cranesbill
Earliest quotation: 2007, Holly Kerr Forsyth, The Constant Gardener: “Sometimes called cranesbills, geraniums make up a large and…”
first attested First attested in the 1500s (as stated in the etymology)
The story
First attested in the 1500s. The flowering plant is so called because of the lengthened appendage of the seed vessel.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- ‘crane’
cricket, crow, crick, creak, 6 more
through Latin geranium
Today it means
noun Any flowering plant of the genus Geranium found throughout the temperate zone.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin geranium / cranesbill