celandine

/ˈsɛləndaɪn/

Etymology

From Middle English celidoine, Old French celidoine, French chélidoine, from Latin chelīdonia, from chelīdonius (“relating to the swallow”), from Ancient Greek χελιδόνιος (khelidónios), χελιδών (khelidṓn). It was traditionally supposed to flower when the swallows appeared, and to perish when they departed.

celandine means Any plant of the genus Chelidonium. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 77 out of 100.

Why this word is great

CELANDINE — [Noun] A name for several flowering plants, most notably the greater celandine (Chelidonium majus), a yellow-flowered herb of the poppy family. From Middle English celidoine, from Old French celidoine, from Latin chelīdonia, from chelīdonius ("relating to the swallow"), from Ancient Greek χελιδόνιος (khelidónios), from χελιδών (khelidṓn, "swallow"). Unlike "buttercup," which denotes a glossy genus, or "poppy," which evokes a narcotic clan, "celandine" is a vagrant name, attached across botanical lineages by the thin, bright thread of a shared yellow bloom. It is the caustic, orange sap bleeding from a broken stem, the four-petaled flower like a fallen scrap of sun, and the quaint, inaccurate calendar by which a medieval gardener marked the turning seasons—a humble herb whose entire identity is borrowed from a creature that is always, inevitably, about to leave.

noun

Any plant of the genus Chelidonium.
Either of two not closely related flowering plants“So men haue learned many precious remedies for many diseases euen by brute [beasts], as we see by the swallow, who hath taught vs that the ioice of Celandine is singuler for the eies, for that she restoreth sight to her yong ones with Celandine.”
Either of two not closely related flowering plants:; Greater celandine (Chelidonium majus).
Either of two not closely related flowering plants:; Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna, formerly Ranunculus ficaria).