celandine

[ sel-uhn-dahyn, -deen ]

noun

1. Also called greater celandine, an Old World plant, Chelidonium majus, of the poppy family, having yellow flowers.
2. Also called lesser celandine. an Old World plant, Ranunculus ficaria, of the buttercup family, having fleshy, heart-shaped leaves and solitary yellow flowers.

celandine

/ ˈsɛlənˌdaɪn /

noun

1. either of two unrelated plants, Chelidonium majus (greater celandine) or Ranunculus ficaria (lesser celandine) See greater celandine lesser celandine

Word History and Origins

Origin of celandine¹

1275–1325; Middle English selandyne, variant of celydon < Latin chelīdonia greater celandine, chelīdonium lesser celandine < Greek chelīdónion, derivative of chelīdṓn swallow; said to be so called because it blooms when the swallows return in spring

Word History and Origins

Origin of celandine¹

C13: earlier celydon, from Latin chelīdonia (the plant), from chelīdonius of the swallow, from Greek khelidōn swallow; the plant's season was believed to parallel the migration of swallows

Example Sentences

Wood sorrel, dog violet and celandine were already in flower beneath the twisted branches of mature oak and birch, thickly draped in mosses, ferns and epiphytic plants.

From New York Times

Instead, we see a plague of English ivy, winter creeper, vinca, honeysuckle vine, lesser celandine and multiflora rose.

From Washington Post

The ode is one of three the poet wrote to his favorite flower — commonly known as the lesser celandine or fig buttercup and recognizable for its glossy, egg-yolk-yellow blooms — which is also a persistent weed.

From New York Times

Dana Dierkes, the park’s chief of interpretation, education and outreach, tells me that concerted efforts to clear the park’s northern flood plain of lesser celandine have succeeded in returning native flora there.

From Washington Post

I see lesser celandine choking the wildflowers, and winged euonymus and Japanese honeysuckle crowding out native spicebush.

From Washington Post