dandelion
/ˈdæn.dəˌlaɪ.ən/noun, adjective
dandelion is spelled D-A-N-D-E-L-I-O-N: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, dandelion means “Any of the several species of plant in the genus Taraxacum, characterised by yellow flower heads and notched, broad-ended leaves, especially the…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dandelion is dandelions.
How many letters and syllables are in dandelion?
| Letters | 9: D-A-N-D-E-L-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 32,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is dandelion?
Dandelion appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dandelion?
- US /ˈdæn.dəˌlaɪ.ən/
- US /ˈdæn.diˌlaɪ.ən/
- UK /ˈdæn.dɪˌlaɪ.ən/
Dandelion has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-dandelion.ogg, En-us-dandelion.ogg, En-au-dandelion.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of dandelion
- dandelions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dandelion mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of the several species of plant in the genus Taraxacum, characterised by yellow flower heads and notched, broad-ended leaves, especially the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).
- 2
The flower head or fruiting head of the dandelion plant.
- 3
A yellow colour, like that of the flower.
adjective
- 1
Of a yellow colour, like that of the flower.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dandelion in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pissenlit, dent-de-lion, baraban |
| German | Löwenzahn, Hundeblume, Kuhblume, Seichblume, Pusteblume, Butterblume |
| Portuguese | dente-de-leão |
| Spanish | diente de león, diente leonés , color leonado, color aleonado , leonado, aleonado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dandelion come from?
From Middle English dentdelyon, from Old French dent de lion (“lion's tooth”), also in Latin dēns leōnis, referring to the jagged shape of the plant's leaves. The term is now rare in French (together with liondent, calque from Germanic), but compare Spanish diente de león, Portuguese dente-de-leão, Italian dente di leone, German Löwenzahn, Norwegian Bokmål løvetann, Welsh dant y llew, all descendants, calques, or loan translations of the Latin term. First attested in the late 14th c.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).