ranunculus

/ (rəˈnʌŋkjʊləs) /

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noun plural -luses or -li (-ˌlaɪ)

any ranunculaceous plant of the genus Ranunculus, having finely divided leaves and typically yellow five-petalled flowers. The genus includes buttercup, crowfoot, spearwort, and lesser celandine

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Word Origin for ranunculus

C16: from Latin: tadpole, from rāna a frog

Words nearby ranunculus

rant, rant and rave, Rantoul, ranula, ranunculaceous, ranunculus, raob, RAOC, Raoult's law, rap, rapacious

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use ranunculus in a sentence

Quantities of this ranunculus come floating down the Hogsmill brook, at times catching against the bridge.
The Hills and the Vale|Richard Jefferies
Captain Sabine fell in with a ranunculus in full flower on the western side of the island, evidently the most genial.
Notable Voyagers|W.H.G. Kingston and Henry Frith
Every yellow ranunculus is called a "butter-cup," every large white umbellifer a "hemlock."
The Introduction to Hegel's Philosophy of Fine Arts|Georg Hegel
Among early summer flowers in open borders few are prettier than the double-flowered kinds of ranunculus of the herbaceous type.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 358, November 11, 1882|Various

Monkshood grew there, also black and yellow clematis, rhubarb, ranunculus and primulas of different kinds.
Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921|Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury