Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Ranunculus \Ra*nun`cu*lus\, n.; pl. E. {Ranunculuses}, L.
   {Ranunculi}. [L., a little frog, a medicinal plant, perhaps
   crowfoot, dim. of rana a frog; cf. raccare to roar.] (Bot.)
   A genus of herbs, mostly with yellow flowers, including
   crowfoot, buttercups, and the cultivated ranunculi ({R.
   Asiaticus}, {R. aconitifolius}, etc.) in which the flowers
   are double and of various colors.