dandelion

Where does the word "dandelion" come from? It comes from Old French dent-de-lion, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).

Dandelion’s story begins in Old French: dent-de-lion meant “lion's tooth.” Literally lion's tooth, describing the plant's sharply jagged leaves. It reached English by 1400s as dandelion. Run together into a single English word for the yellow-flowered weed. Today, dandelion means a common yellow-flowered weed with jagged leaves and a fluffy seed head.

1. Stage 1 · Old French · medieval dent-de-lion "lion's tooth", literally lion's tooth, describing the plant's sharply jagged leaves.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1400s dandelion "a yellow-flowered weed with jagged leaves", run together into a single English word for the yellow-flowered weed.