groundsel
/ˈɡɹaʊnd.səl/noun
groundsel is a noun meaning “Any of several widely-distributed plants, of the genus Senecio, having yellow, daisylike flowers” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled G-R-O-U-N-D-S-E-L, and it appears about once in every 46 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of groundsel is groundsels.
What does groundsel mean?
noun
- 1
Any of several widely-distributed plants, of the genus Senecio, having yellow, daisylike flowers.
- 2
Alternative form of groundsill.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce groundsel?
- /ˈɡɹaʊnd.səl/
- /ˈɡɹaʊn.səl/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-groundsel.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of groundsel
- groundsels plural
- grunsel
- grundsel
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is groundsel?
Groundsel appears about once in every 46 million words in written English, the 209,386th 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).
Groundsel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Senecio:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | séneçon |
| German | Kreuzkraut, Greiskraut |
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 groundsel come from?
From Middle English grundeswülie, from Old English grundeswyliġe, grundeswelġe (“groundsel”), from grunde (“ground, bottom, abyss”) + swelge (“to swallow, to eat up”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).