geranium

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin geranium, also geranion,^[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek γεράνιον (geránion), a plant name,^[2][5][3][6] the diminutive of γέρανος (géranos, “crane”),^[2][5][7][8] so called because its long, pointed seed pod looks like a crane's bill.^[5][7][8][9] The Greek word is related to Latin grūs (“crane”) and Old English cran, the source of crane.^[3][7][8][9] The American Heritage Dictionary notes that Linnaeus's genus name New Latin Geranium at first covered both the cranesbills and the pelargoniums, which were later separated into two genera.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A plant of the genus Geranium, with fruit shaped like a crane's bill: 1548, in William Turner's Names of Herbes.^{[2][5][4][11]}

Semantic evolution

The native English name for the plant, cranesbill, rests on the same image, which Ayto calls an independent idea of speakers of two languages centuries apart.^[8][7] From 1760 the name was also given to the South African plants of the genus Pelargonium, the scarlet geranium of gardens;^[2][11] Merriam-Webster's Word Histories points out that the common garden geranium is really a pelargonium, named after the stork, as the related Erodium (storksbill) is named after the heron.^[9] The colour of the scarlet geranium is called geranium from 1842,^[2][7] and since 1866 the name was applied, with a defining word, to plants of other genera.^[2] In American pharmacy the dried rhizome of the wild geranium was used as an astringent.^[2][4] In British slang geranium meant the head (1890) and a red nose (1909).^[12]

Timeline

• 1548 – a plant of the genus Geranium, cranesbill.^[2][5]
• 1760 – a plant of the genus Pelargonium.^[2]
• 1842 – the colour of the scarlet geranium.^[2][7]
• 1866 – with a defining word, plants of other genera.^[2]
• 1890 – slang, the head.^[12]
• 1909 – slang, a red nose.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cultivated plant of the genus Pelargonium, with clusters of showy red, pink or white flowers: a window box of red geraniums.^[13][4][2]
2. A plant of the genus Geranium, such as cranesbill or herb Robert, with divided leaves and pink or purple flowers.^[13][4][2]
3. A strong red to deep pink colour.^[13][4][2]
4. The dried rhizome of the wild geranium, formerly used as an astringent.^[4][2]

Word family

• ivy geranium
• mint geranium

Related words

• geraniol
• crane
• cranesbill
• pelargonium

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
7. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins