Library / English Dictionary

LILAC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of various plants of the genus Syringa having large panicles of usually fragrant flowers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("lilac" is a kind of...):

bush; shrub (a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lilac"):

Himalayan lilac; Syringa emodi (robust upright shrub of mountains of northern India having oblong-elliptic leaves and pale lilac or white malodorous flowers)

Hungarian lilac; Syringa josikaea; Syringa josikea (central European upright shrub having elliptic leaves and upright clusters of lilac or deep violet flowers)

Persian lilac; Syringa persica (small densely branching Asiatic shrub having lanceolate leaves and panicles of fragrant lilac flowers)

Japanese tree lilac; Syringa amurensis japonica; Syringa reticulata (small tree of Japan having narrow pointed leaves and creamy-white flowers)

Japanese lilac; Syringa villosa (lilac of northern China having ovate leaves and profuse early summer rose-lilac flowers)

common lilac; Syringa vulgaris (large European lilac naturalized in North America having heart-shaped ovate leaves and large panicles of highly fragrant lilac or white flowers)

Holonyms ("lilac" is a member of...):

genus Syringa; Syringa (genus of Old World shrubs or low trees having fragrant flowers in showy panicles: lilacs)

Derivation:

lilac (of a pale purple color)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of a pale purple color

Synonyms:

lavender; lilac; lilac-colored

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)

Derivation:

lilac (any of various plants of the genus Syringa having large panicles of usually fragrant flowers)

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