lilac
26
1.6
- noun
- /ˈlaɪlək/
:
lila
- In the park, children played under the shade of a lilac shrub with clusters of fragrant purple blooms.
- lilac bloom
- Lilac-breasted roller
Tobacco colored, they hang where white lilacs and pink azaleas blush to springs.
- Tobacco colored, they hang where white lilacs and pink azaleas blush to springs.
- Oh my God, it smells like lilac.
- The purple bullfinch in the lilac tree sounds almost, you know, Zen like, doesn't it?
- And the smell of the oil of lilac would actually people would wonder what why is the lab reeking of that smell?
- There's lots blooming, lots going on, the sun's shining and you got lilacs, you got strawberries, Clover, everything's really coming into bloom well.
Examples
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A little later, lilacs were in bloom by late in the month.
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We've got an Angel white lilac just starting to open the blooms.
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Were you in the public gardens, Mother, wearing a lilac dress?
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Then as the sun set and the sky turned lilac, in each village, great or small, they gathered.
Fiction book (1990) -
When she moved, a whiff of lilac came over me.
Fiction book (1994) -
Outside in the garden, a bird hopped from a low lilac branch onto the windowsill.
Fiction book (1990) -
And wherever the eye looked, lilac and berry bushes grew profusely, without pattern.
Fiction book (1993) -
The air is rich with blooming chestnuts, lilacs somewhere, and a climbing rose over the back wall.
Academic text (1996) -
I'm smelling lilacs.
-
There's lots blooming, lots going on, the sun's shining and you got lilacs, you got strawberries, Clover, everything's really coming into bloom well.
Synonyms
A bush with heart-shaped leaves and large clusters of very fragrant purple or white flowers often grown in gardens
A shrub with heart-shaped leaves and clusters of fragrant purple or white flowers
A shrub or small tree with clusters of fragrant lilac flowers
Compounds
A bush with heart-shaped leaves and large clusters of very fragrant purple or white flowers often grown in gardens
- Indian
A sturdy shrub from the mountains of northern India with pale purple or white flowers that smell strong
A small shrub with oval leaves and upright clusters of purple flowers used in gardens
A small tree from Japan with narrow leaves and groups of creamy white flowers grown for decoration
How Fragrant
Surface Forms
Etymology
Lilac for the plant comes from the same Persian root nilak meaning 'bluish', brought into English by way of Arabic and other European tongues. People used that name for the fragrant shrub because of its pale purple flowers, which is why we still call the bush and its blooms 'lilac' today.