dandelion

dandelion
\ \ [13] Dandelion means literally ‘lion’s tooth’. It was borrowed from French dent-de-lion, which itself was a translation of medieval Latin dēns leōnis. It was presumably so called from the toothlike points of its leaves (although some have speculated that the name comes from the long taproot). The plant has a variety of local dialectal names, many of them (clock, farmer’s clocks, schoolboy’s clock, telltime, time flower) reflecting the traditional practice of telling the time by blowing off all the plant’s tufted seeds (the number of puffs needed indicates the hour). Piss-a-bed, like its French counterpart pissenlit, betrays the plant’s diuretic properties.
\ \ Cf.DENTIST, LION

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Dandelion B&B — (Варшава,Польша) Категория отеля: Адрес: Denarowa 15, Влохи, 02 490 Варшава, Польша …   Каталог отелей

  • Dandelion — Single par The Rolling Stones Face A We Love You Sortie 18 août 1967 (UK) 2 septembre 1967 (US) Durée 3:32 Genre pop …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Dandelion — Dan de*li on, n. [F. dent de lion lion s tooth, fr. L. dens tooth + leo lion. See {Tooth}, n., and {Lion}.] (Bot.) A well known plant of the genus {Taraxacum} ({Taraxacum officinale}, formerly called {Taraxacum Dens leonis} and {Leontodos… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • dandelion — (n.) early 15c., earlier dent de lioun (late 14c.), from M.Fr. dent de lion, lit. lion s tooth (from its toothed leaves), translation of M.L. dens leonis. Other folk names, like tell time refer to the custom of telling the time by blowing the… …   Etymology dictionary

  • dandelion — ► NOUN ▪ a weed with large bright yellow flowers followed by rounded heads of seeds with downy tufts. ORIGIN French dent de lion lion s tooth (because of the jagged shape of the leaves) …   English terms dictionary

  • dandelion — [dan′də lī΄ən; ] widely [, dan′dēlīn΄] n. [ME dentdelyon < OFr dent de lion, lit., tooth of the lion < L dens (gen. dentis), TOOTH + de, of + leo, lion: so called from the jagged leaves] any of several plants (genus Taraxacum) of the… …   English World dictionary

  • Dandelion — Filmdaten Deutscher Titel Dandelion – Eine Liebe in Idaho Originaltitel Dandelion …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • dandelion — n. a composite plant, Taraxacum officinale, with jagged leaves and a large bright yellow flower on a hollow stalk, followed by a globular head of seeds with downy tufts. Phrases and idioms: dandelion clock the downy seed head of a dandelion.… …   Useful english dictionary

  • dandelion — UK [ˈdændɪˌlaɪən] / US [ˈdænd(ə)lˌaɪən] noun [countable] Word forms dandelion : singular dandelion plural dandelions a wild plant with a large yellow flower that changes into a furry white ball of seeds called a dandelion clock …   English dictionary

  • dandelion — 1. noun /ˈdæn.dɪ.laɪən/ a) Any of the several species of plant in the genus Taraxacum, characterised yellow flower heads and notched, broad ended leaves, especially the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). b) The flower head or fruiting head… …   Wiktionary

  • dandelion — paprastoji kiaulpienė statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Astrinių šeimos daržovinis, maistinis, prieskoninis, vaistinis, medingas augalas (Taraxacum officinale), paplitęs Europoje ir Azijoje. Iš jo šaknų gaminami maisto priedai (kvėpikliai),… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

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