cranesbill

English

Geranium cuneatum

the seed vessel

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.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹeɪnz.bɪl/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Noun

cranesbill (plural cranesbills)

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

   Synonym: geranium

   • 2007, Holly Kerr Forsyth, The Constant Gardener, The Miegunyah Press, →ISBN, page 93:

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

2. A pair of long-beaked forceps.

Derived terms

• Carolina cranesbill
• pencilled cranesbill
• spotted cranesbill

Translations

plant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium

• Bulgarian: здравец (bg) (zdravec)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 老鸛草 / 老鹳草 (zh) (lǎoguàncǎo)

• Czech: kakost (cs) f
• Finnish: kurjenpolvi (fi)
• French: géranium (fr)
• German: Storchschnabel m, Kranichhals m (obsolete)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: γεράνιον n (geránion)

• Hungarian: gólyaorr (hu)
• Irish: crobh fola m
• Italian: geranio (it) m
• Japanese: 風露草 (フウロソウ)
• Kazakh: қазтамақ (qaztamaq)
• Norwegian:

  Nynorsk: storkenebb m or n

• Polish: bodziszek m, geranium (pl) n
• Romanian: geraniu (ro) m
• Russian: гера́нь (ru) f (geránʹ), жураве́льник (ru) m (žuravélʹnik)
• Scottish Gaelic: crobh-preachain m
• Spanish: geranio (es) m
• Swedish: näva
• Turkish: çobaniğnesi, leylekgagası, leylekayağı, leylekburnu

  Ottoman Turkish: چوبان ایكنه‌سی (çoban iğnesi)

• Welsh: pig yr aran m, troedrudd f or m

Anagrams

• brain cells, braincells