Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cranesbill

/ˈkɹeɪnz.bɪl/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 1.11 in modern English

Syllables: cranes-bill
IPA: /ˈkɹeɪnz.bɪl/

14

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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

noun

A pair of long-beaked forceps.

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."

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.

Origin

Source language: Latin
First known use: First attested in the 1500s

Word Breakdown

Root: geranium, γέρᾰνος

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈkɹeɪnz.bɪl/

Inflected Forms

cranesbills (plural)

Phrases

Carolina cranesbill pencilled cranesbill spotted cranesbill

Synonyms

geranium crane's bill

Questions

How do you pronounce cranesbill?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈkɹeɪnz.bɪl/.
What does cranesbill mean?: Any flowering plant of the genus Geranium found throughout the temperate zone.
Where does cranesbill come from?: It is traced to Latin. First known use: First attested in the 1500s.

How to pronounce cranesbill

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “cranesbill”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈkɹeɪnz.bɪl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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