ܕܪܘܢܓ drwng dronicum, leopard's bane
MP *drōnag, cf. NP darūnak Dronicum, leopard's bane; NP darūna, darōna Dronicum, a herb; bow, rainbow; NP, Arab. darūnaǰ Dronicum, leopard's bane (Steingass 515). It is not excluded that MP *drōnag with botanic meaning is the same word as ManMP drwng /drōnag/ rainbow, a derivative of MP 1drōn [dlwn'] bow (Durkin-Meisterernst 2004, 140; CPD 27): in this case, MP *drōnag would not need to be asterisked. Needless to say, the fact that NP darūna, darōna has both meanings proves nothing about the etymon of the MP word and could represent a formal merger of two originally different words ● Med 141, 24; BB 592, 16 ◆ LS 167b; PS Suppl. 94