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ranunculus

British  
/ rəˈnʌŋkjʊləs /

noun

  1. 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

"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

Etymology

Origin of ranunculus

C16: from Latin: tadpole, from rāna a frog

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Tables were dressed in green linens and had seasonal spring bouquets featuring butterfly ranunculus, phlox, and lily of the valley.

From BBC Apr. 28, 2026

Everyone in her group was laden with two or three cone-shaped bundles — a couple dozen each of ranunculus, sweet peas, lisianthus, Queen Anne’s lace, spray roses and large roses in ivory and white.

From Los Angeles Times Nov. 20, 2024

It’s magical for Ferguson too, who over the last 11 months has built a colorful farm on the half-acre with flowers, including Agrostemma, irises, zinnias, cosmos, roses, sunflowers, sweet peas, French dianthus and ranunculus.

From Los Angeles Times May 21, 2024

For the newly opened Italian restaurant Dalla in East London, she sourced silver candlestick-shaped vases attributed to the Viennese designer Carl Auböck, furnishing each with a single, barely trimmed stem of white ‘Butterfly’ ranunculus.

From New York Times Mar. 15, 2024

Growing under the shade of these are several varieties of rose, honeysuckle, currant, gooseberry, hawthorn, rhododendron and a luxuriant herbage, among which the ranunculus family is important for frequency and number of genera.

From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg

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