dandelion

Etymology

Recorded from the late 14th century.^[1] From Middle English dent-de-lioun,^[2][1] borrowed from Old French dent de lion (“lion's tooth”),^[1][3] a translation of Medieval Latin dēns leōnis,^[1][4] from Latin dēns “tooth” and leōnis, genitive of leō “lion”.^[2][1] The name refers to the toothed outline of the leaves.^[4][5]

Other names refer to the plant's diuretic properties, such as Middle English piss-a-bed and French pissenlit.^[1]

References

1. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
2. [1] [2] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. [1] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
4. [1] [2] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. [1] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House