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celandine (SEL-uhn-deen) - n., either of two unrelated Eurasian herbaceous perennials with yellow cup-like flowers: greater celandine, Chelidonium majus, of the poppy family, or lesser celandine, Ranunculus ficaria, of the buttercup family.
Greater celandine is also called tetterwort, nipplewort, and swallowwart, one of those rare words with a double w, while lesser celandine is also called pilewort -- all of which endings indicate that they were both used medicinally (for example, pilewort was used to treat hemorrhoids, formerly called piles). It's the swallowwort that's the most interesting name -- not because it's used to treat swallowing, but because celandine is connected to swallows in lore: it was said by the ancient Greeks (and Romans) that it bloomed when the migrating swallows arrived and withered when they left, for which they named it chelidonion, from chelidṓn, swallow, which became Latin chelīdonia for greater celandine and chelīdonium for the lesser, which in turn both became Old French celidoine, which passed through Anglo-French to Middle English celidoine.
---L.
Greater celandine is also called tetterwort, nipplewort, and swallowwart, one of those rare words with a double w, while lesser celandine is also called pilewort -- all of which endings indicate that they were both used medicinally (for example, pilewort was used to treat hemorrhoids, formerly called piles). It's the swallowwort that's the most interesting name -- not because it's used to treat swallowing, but because celandine is connected to swallows in lore: it was said by the ancient Greeks (and Romans) that it bloomed when the migrating swallows arrived and withered when they left, for which they named it chelidonion, from chelidṓn, swallow, which became Latin chelīdonia for greater celandine and chelīdonium for the lesser, which in turn both became Old French celidoine, which passed through Anglo-French to Middle English celidoine.
---L.
