any ranunculaceous plant of the genus Ranunculus, having finely divided leaves and typically yellow five-petalled flowers. The genusincludes buttercup, crowfoot, spearwort, and lesser celandine
Word origin
C16: from Latin: tadpole, from rāna a frog
ranunculus in American English
(rəˈnʌŋkjʊləs)
nounWord forms: pluralraˈnunculuses or raˈnuncuˌli (rəˈnʌŋkjʊˌlaɪ)
buttercup
Word origin
ModL < L, tadpole, medicinal plant, dim. of rana, frog