structural:reformatting, structural:expansion
Common names

The English name, dandelion, is a corruption of the French dent de lion meaning "lion's tooth", referring to the coarsely toothed leaves. The plant is also known as blowball, cankerwort, doon-head-clock, witch's gowan, milk witch, lion's-tooth, yellow-gowan, Irish daisy, monks-head, priest's-crown, and puff-ball; other common names include faceclock, pee-a-bed, wet-a-bed, swine's snout, white endive, and wild endive.

The English folk name " piss-a-bed " (and indeed the equivalent contemporary French pissenlit) refers to the strong diuretic effect of the plant's roots. In various northeastern Italian dialects, the plant is known as pisacan (" dog pisses "), because they are found at the side of pavements. In Swedish, it is called maskros (worm rose) after the nymphs of small insects (thrips larvae) usually present in the flowers.