Etymograph

English

geranium

Geranium comes from Ancient Greek γερᾰ́νῐον ‘cranesbill’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerh₂-1‘crane’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγέρᾰνος2‘crane’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγερᾰ́νῐον2gerắnĭon‘cranesbill’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgeranium2
  5. Englishtodaygeranium2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek γέρανος
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English geranium

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerh₂-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek γέρανος‘crane’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγέρᾰνοςWiktionary, English geranium‘crane’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγερᾰ́νῐονWiktionary, English geraniumgerắnĭon‘cranesbill’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgeraniumWiktionary, English geranium
  5. EnglishtodaygeraniumWiktionary, English geranium

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- ‘crane’

cricket, crow, crane, crick, creak, 6 more

Today it means

noun Any flowering plant of the genus Geranium, of family Geraniaceae.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “geranium”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek γέρανος. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- / geranium

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