cranesbill

Definition

Any flowering plant of the genus Geranium found throughout the temperate zone.

Etymology

First attested in the 1500s. Calque of Dutch craenhals; cognate with German Kranichhals and Middle Low German kraneshals, all likely derived from Latin geranium, from Ancient Greek γέρᾰνος (gérănos, “crane”). By surface analysis, crane + -s- + bill. The flowering plant is so called because of the lengthened appendage of the seed vessel.

Example Sentences

• "Sometimes called cranesbills, geraniums make up a large and widely used genus, greatly loved by gardeners from England to the United States to Australia."