Word.ws English Dictionary

Judas tree

Judas tree noun: a small deciduous tree, Cercis siliquastrum, noted for its prolific display of deep-pink flowers in spring.

judas tree: a small deciduous tree, Cercis siliquastrum, noted for its prolific display of deep-pink flowers in...
Image: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

Judas tree (plural Judas trees)

  1. A small deciduous tree, Cercis siliquastrum, noted for its prolific display of deep-pink flowers in spring.
    • The Spaniards and Portuguese title the siliquastrum the lovely tree, or tree of love; and we call it Judas tree, from a tradition, that it was the tree Judas hanged himself upon.1762 June, “The compendious System of Natural History”, in The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure, volume 30, page 297
    • […] children, drawing water,
      Looked up and paused to see,
      Amid the apple branches,
      A purple Judas tree.1858, Adelaide Anne Procter, “The Wayside Inn”, in Legends and Lyrics, New York: D. Appleton, page 119
    Synonyms:
    European redbud

Judas tree meaning in Hindi, Malayalam, Arabic and Persian

Judas tree in Hindi

Cercis siliquastrum
अरगवान aragvān

Judas tree in Malayalam

Judas tree or its flower
ആർഗവന āṟgavana

Judas tree in Arabic

Cercis siliquastrum
أُرْجُوَان ʔurjuwān, زَمْزَرِيق zamzarīq, شَزْرِيق šazrīq, خَزْرِيق ḵazrīq

Judas tree in Persian

Cercis siliquastrum
ارغوان arġavân

Synonyms of Judas tree

Forms of Judas tree

pluralJudas trees

Origin of Judas tree

From a European folk belief that Judas Iscariot hanged himself on a tree of this species (the account in the Christian scriptures says he hanged himself, but gives no details).

Questions about Judas tree

What does Judas tree mean?
Judas tree means a small deciduous tree, Cercis siliquastrum, noted for its prolific display of deep-pink flowers in spring.
What is Judas tree in Hindi?
Judas tree in Hindi is अरगवान (aragvān). See Judas tree meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is Judas tree?
Judas tree is a noun.
What is the plural of Judas tree?
The plural of Judas tree is Judas trees.

Words near Judas tree in the dictionary

  1. Judas kisses
  2. Judas Priest
  3. Judas steer
  4. Judas steers
  5. Judas the Iscariot
  6. Judas tree
  7. Judas trees
  8. Judas window
  9. Judas windows
  10. Judas-ear
  11. Judas-ears

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Judas tree (page history and authors); ആർഗവന (Malayalam) (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Judas tree.wav.

Cite this entry: “Judas tree.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/judas_tree. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.