celandine
/ˈsɛləndaɪn/ noun
Forms celandines
- noun Any plant of the genus Chelidonium.
- noun Either of two not closely related flowering plants:
- noun Greater celandine (Chelidonium majus).
- noun Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna, formerly Ranunculus ficaria).
Synonyms
pilewort jewelweed lady's earrings orange balsam touch-me-not Impatiens capensis greater celandine swallowwort swallow wort Chelidonium majus
Etymology
From Middle English celidoine, Old French celidoine, French chélidoine, from Latin chelīdonia, from chelīdonius (“relating to the swallow”), from Ancient Greek χελιδόνιος (khelidónios), χελιδών (khelidṓn). It was traditionally supposed to flower when the swallows appeared, and to perish when they departed.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A perennial herbaceous plant (Chelidonium majus) of the poppy family, with yellow flowers. It is used as a medicine in jandice, etc., and its acrid saffron-colored juice is used to cure warts and the itch; --called also greater celandine and swallowwort. Lasser celandine, the pilewort (Ranunculus Ficaria).
Etymology [OE. celidoine, OF. celidoine, F. chélidoine, fr. L. chelidonia (sc. herba), fr. chelidonius pertaining to the swallow, Gr. hirundo a swallow.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “celandine”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details