#and that Not Onely of Those Whiche are Here Growyng in this Our Countrie of Englande But of All Others Also

[thinksandthings]

dandelion

I absolutely never noticed this, but now that I’ve seen it, I cannot believe it never occurred to me. Dandelion, the flower of my childhood, is a borrowing from the French name dent de lion, which is literally “lion’s teeth.” 

I think this is the most adorable thing and I love it very much. 

The French came through the Middle English, spelled alternately as dantdelyon or dendelyoun. This phrase has also popped up in related languages, such as the Welsh dant y llew, and the Spanish diente de léon.

At the very base of it is the Latin dens leonis, which translates pretty much the same as its linguistic descendants. 

Interestingly, in looking around some dictionaries, I found this entry from an anthology of plants written in 1578: 

The great Groundlwel, hath rough whitish leaves, deeply jagged and knawen upo both sides, like to the leaves of the white Mustard or lenuie. The stalke is two foote high or more: at the top where-of growe smal knoppes, which do open into smal yellow flowers the which are lodenly gone, changed into downie blowbawles like to the heades of Dantdelyon, and are blowen away with the winde.

I’m not sure I transcribed that right, but I really like the last bit: “changed into downie blowbawles like to the heades of Dantdelyon, and are blowen away with the winde.”