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ra·nun·cu·lus

(rə-nŭngkyə-ləs)

n. pl. ra·nun·cu·lus·es or ra·nun·cu·li (-lī′)

Any of numerous plants of the genus Ranunculus, having yellow or white usually five-petaled flowers, and including the buttercups and the crowfoots.

[New Latin Rānunculus, genus name, from Latin rānunculus, a kind of medicinal plant, diminutive of rāna, frog, perhaps of imitative origin.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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