Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Lilac
Li′lac
(lī′lak)
, Noun.
[Also
lilach
.] [Sp.
lilac
, lila
, Ar. līlak
, fr. Per. līlaj
, līlanj
, līlang
, nīlaj
, nīl
, the indigo plant, or from the kindred līlak
bluish, the flowers being named from the color. Cf. Anil
.] 1.
(Bot.)
A shrub of the genus
Syringa
. There are six species, natives of Europe and Asia. Syringa vulgaris
, the common lilac, and Syringa Persica
, the Persian lilac, are frequently cultivated for the fragrance and beauty of their purplish or white flowers. In the British colonies various other shrubs have this name. 2.
A light purplish color like that of the flower of the purplish lilac.
California lilac
(Bot.)
, a low shrub with dense clusters of purplish flowers (
Ceanothus thyrsiflorus
).Webster 1828 Edition
Lilac
LI'LAC
,Noun.
Definition 2025
lilac
lilac
English
Noun
lilac (plural lilacs)
- A large shrub of the genus Syringa, bearing white, pale pink, or purple flowers.
- 1907, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “chapter V”, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 4241346:
- Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
-
- A flower of the lilac shrub.
- A pale purple colour, the colour of some lilac flowers.
-
lilac colour:
-
Translations
shrub
|
|
flower
|
|
colour
|
Adjective
lilac (comparative more lilac, superlative most lilac)
- (colour) having a pale purple colour.
Translations
colour
|
See also
- syringa
- bunchflower
- Appendix:Colors
Derived terms
Anagrams
- ↑ Skeat, A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 1895