cranesbill
/ˈkɹeɪnz.bɪl/
"cranesbill" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cranesbill” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any flowering plant of the genus Geranium found throughout the temperate zone.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cranesbill · cranesbill · English
cranesbill · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cranesbill |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɹeɪnz.bɪl/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “cranesbill” in English
Rare enough to double-check
cranesbill is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkɹeɪnz.bɪl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for cranesbill in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in the 1500s. Calque of Dutch craenhals; cognate with German Kranichhals and Middle Low German kraneshals, all likely derived from Latin geranium, from Ancient Greek γέρᾰνος (gérănos, “crane”). By surface analysis, crane + -s- + bill. The flo… The correct English form is cranesbill, spelled C-R-A-N-E-S-B-I-L-L.
Definition
- 1Any flowering plant of the genus Geranium found throughout the temperate zone.
- 2A pair of long-beaked forceps.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how cranesbill appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Sometimes called cranesbills, geraniums make up a large and widely used genus, greatly loved by gardeners from England to the United States to Australia.
Etymology
First attested in the 1500s. Calque of Dutch craenhals; cognate with German Kranichhals and Middle Low German kraneshals, all likely derived from Latin geranium, from Ancient Greek γέρᾰνος (gérănos, “crane”). By surface analysis, crane + -s- + bill. The flowering plant is so called because of the lengthened appendage of the seed vessel.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.