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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.
A plant or shrub of the genus syringa, a native of Persia. The common lilac is cultivated for its flowers, which are purple or white.

Definition 2024


lilac

lilac

English

Noun

lilac (plural lilacs)

  1. 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.
  2. A flower of the lilac shrub.
  3. A pale purple colour, the colour of some lilac flowers.
    lilac colour:    

Translations

Adjective

lilac (comparative more lilac, superlative most lilac)

  1. (colour) having a pale purple colour.

Translations

See also

Derived terms

Anagrams

  1. Skeat, A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 1895