Meanings
plural cranesbills
- Any flowering plant of the genus Geranium found throughout the temperate zone.
Sometimes called cranesbills, geraniums make up a large and widely used genus, greatly loved by gardeners from England to the United States to Australia.
2007, Holly Kerr Forsyth, The Constant Gardener, The Miegunyah Press, →ISBN, page 93Synonyms: geranium
- A pair of long-beaked forceps.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny flowering plant of the genus Geranium found throughout the temperate zone.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekγέρᾰνος“crane”
- Latingeranium
- Dutchcraenhals
- Englishcranesbill
First attested in the 1500s. Calque of Dutch craenhals; cognate with German Kranichhals and Middle Low German kraneshals, all likely derived from Latin geranium, from Ancient Greek γέρᾰνος (gérănos, “crane”). By surface analysis, crane + -s- + bill. The flowering plant is so called because of the lengthened appendage of the seed vessel.
More words from Dutch, Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek γεράνιον
- γεράνιον (geránion)plant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Bulgarian здравец
- здравец (zdravec)plant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Chinese Mandarin 老鸛草 /老鹳草
- 老鸛草 /老鹳草 (lǎoguàncǎo)plant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Czech kakost
- kakostplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Finnish kurjenpolvi
- kurjenpolviplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
French géranium
- géraniumplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
German Storchschnabel, Kranichhals
- Storchschnabelplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
- Kranichhalsplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Hungarian gólyaorr
- gólyaorrplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Irish crobh fola
- crobh folaplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Italian geranio
- geranioplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Japanese 風露草
- 風露草plant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Polish bodziszek, geranium
- bodziszekplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
- geraniumplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Romanian geraniu
- geraniuplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Russian гера́нь, жураве́льник
- гера́нь (geránʹ)plant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
- жураве́льник (žuravélʹnik)plant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Scottish Gaelic crobh-preachain
- crobh-preachainplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Spanish geranio
- geranioplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Swedish näva
- nävaplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Turkish çobaniğnesi, leylekgagası
- çobaniğnesiplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
- leylekgagasıplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
- leylekayağıplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
- leylekburnuplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Welsh pig yr aran, troedrudd
- pig yr aranplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
- troedruddplant of the genus Geranium — see also geranium
Cite this entry
cranesbill. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cranesbill
“cranesbill.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cranesbill. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cranesbill,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cranesbill.
Source: cranesbill on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.