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Ranunculus_ficaria

wen-clufu

noun, , , hapax legomenon

Type: plant

Last Update: 26.09.2011 10:54

Reference Last Update: 22.11.2022 17:27

Meaning Last Update: 06.12.2010 11:37

  • A: plant: native
    Ranunculus ficaria L., lesser celandine, Gewöhnliches Scharbockskraut
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Comment Last Update: 26.09.2011 10:54

  • Comment on (A): Ranunculus ficaria L., lesser celandine, Gewöhnliches Scharbockskraut

    For a discussion of the L lemma cf. s.v. →wen-wyrt. The OE name seems to be synonymous with →wen-wyrt, sīo clufihte[1]. Clufu (like →clufeht) seems to refer to the root tubercles of R. ficaria, which motivated the L name FICARIA because of their similarity to hemorrhoids; based on the doctrine of signatures the plant was used to cure this illness.[2]

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Occurrence Last Update: 10.03.2008 07:19
  • Laud, 642 EMIGRANA .I. wenwvrt UEL wencloua
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Image Last Update: 26.09.2011 10:54

Ranunculus ficaria L., lesser celandine, Gewöhnliches Scharbockskraut
Ranunculus_ficaria

Botanical-Information: stylised plate

Source: →reference-information

Kops, Jan. Flora Batava. 1. Deel. Amsterdam: J. C. Sepp en Zoon, 1800.

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Research Literature

BW III: Bierbaumer, Peter. Der botanische Wortschatz des Altenglischen. Grazer Beiträge zur Englischen Philologie 3. Frankfurt am Main, Bern, Las Vegas: Lang, 1979.
Laud: Stracke, J. Richard (ed.). The Laud Herbal Glossary. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1974.
MS Oxford, Bodleian, Laud Misc. 567.
[1]:

The cnēoehte wenwyrt of the LB could be Scrophularia nodosa L., figwort, Knoten-Braunwurz; R. ficaria was also called SCROPHULARIA MINOR (Marzell 2000,3,1260) because of its use against neoplasms (L SCROFULAE, cf. Marzell 2000,4,185).

[2]:

The tubercles could have been compared to swellings in general, which could have led to the name "swelling-wort".