cranesbill

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.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹeɪnz.bɪl/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

cranesbill (plural cranesbills)

1. Any flowering plant of the genus Geranium found throughout the temperate zone.

   Synonym: geranium

   • 2007, Holly Kerr Forsyth, The Constant Gardener, The Miegunyah Press, →ISBN, page 93:

     Sometimes called cranesbills, geraniums make up a large and widely used genus, greatly loved by gardeners from England to the United States to Australia.

2. A pair of long-beaked forceps.

• brain cells, braincells