ra·nun·cu·lus  (rə-nŭng'kyə-ləs)  n. pl. ra·nun·cu·lus·es or ra·nun·cu·li (-lī') Any of numerous plants of the genus Ranunculus, including the buttercups. [New Latin Rānunculus, genus name, from Latin rānunculus, a kind of medicinal plant, diminutive of rāna, frog, perhaps of imitative origin.] |