Groundsel
/ˈɡraʊnd.səl/noun
A common weed of the daisy family with small yellow flower heads.
Did you know?Groundsel comes from Old English roots meaning “ground swallower,” a name tied to the plant’s habit of spreading low and fast across the earth.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
grundeswelige
“ground-swallower; a creeping plant”
Middle English
ME
groundeswelle
“a low-growing weed”
15th–16th Century
English
groundswel / groundsel
“the common weed now called groundsel”
Modern English
English
groundsel
“a common weed of the daisy family”
Explore more surprising origins