dandelion
/ˈdæn.dəˌlaɪ.ən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.90 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any of the several species of plant in the genus Taraxacum, characterised by yellow flower heads and notched, broad-ended leaves, especially the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).
Countable
Example Sentences
- "the sanguine hue of the poppy and the hibiscus, the gold of the daisy and dandelion, the dark green of the sorrage on either side, and the blue and purple of the blossoming mulberry and sycamore"
- "There are asexual variants among all sorts of creatures, including jellyfish, dandelions, lichens and lizards."
Etymology
From Middle English dentdelyon, from Old French dent de lion (“lion's tooth”), also in Latin dēns leōnis, referring to the jagged shape of the plant's leaves. The term is now rare in French (together with liondent, calque from Germanic), but compare Spanish diente de león, Portuguese dente-de-leão, Italian dente di leone, German Löwenzahn, Norwegian Bokmål løvetann, Welsh dant y llew, all descendants, calques, or loan translations of the Latin term. First attested in the late 14th c. Displaced various words, including native Old English ǣġwyrt, native Middle English houndes-tooth, and English tell-time and swine's snout; and mostly displaced English cankerwort, monk's head, and pissabed.
Origin
- Source language: Middle English
- First known use: First attested in the late 14th c.
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdæn.dəˌlaɪ.ən/
- British English: /ˈdæn.dɪˌlaɪ.ən/