Word.ws English Dictionary

Black Tulip

Black Tulip noun: synonym of Antonov An-12 (“Soviet-era turboprop cargoplane”).

Noun

Black Tulip (plural Black Tulips)

  1. Synonym of Antonov An-12 (“Soviet-era turboprop cargoplane”).
    Synonyms:
    Cub, Flying Shed, Antonov An-12

Synonyms of Black Tulip

  • Cub
  • Flying Shed
  • Antonov An-12

Forms of Black Tulip

pluralBlack Tulips
alternative formblack tulip

Origin of Black Tulip

black+tulip. Calque of Russian Чёрный тюльпан (Čórnyj tjulʹpan). From the use of the aircraft as a means to repatriate corpses of fallen soldiers. From the use of black tulips and other flowers to border obituaries. Originating as a nickname used by Soviet aircrews of the repatriation transport missions during the Afghan War, and popularized by Alexander Rezenbaum in a popular Soviet song, before migrating into English.

Questions about Black Tulip

What does Black Tulip mean?
Black Tulip means synonym of Antonov An-12 (“Soviet-era turboprop cargoplane”).
What part of speech is Black Tulip?
Black Tulip is a noun.
What is the plural of Black Tulip?
The plural of Black Tulip is Black Tulips.

Words near Black Tulip in the dictionary

  1. black truffle
  2. black truffles
  3. black trumpet
  4. black trumpets
  5. Black Tuesday
  6. Black Tulip
  7. black turnstone
  8. black turnstones
  9. Black Turtle
  10. black turtle bean
  11. black turtle beans

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Black Tulip (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “Black Tulip.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/black_tulip. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.