laurel

UK/ˈlɒɹ.əl//ˈlɔɹ.əl/

laurel noun: an evergreen shrub of species Laurus nobilis, having aromatic leaves of a lanceolate shape, with clusters of small, yellowish white flowers in their axils.

Image: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

laurel (countable and uncountable, plural laurels)

An evergreen shrub of species Laurus nobilis, having aromatic leaves of a lanceolate shape, with clusters of small, yellowish white flowers in their axils.
- Laurel leaves were used in the Orient to promote amatory exercise.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 136
A crown of laurel.
(figuratively, in plural) Honor, distinction, fame.
- to win laurels
- to crown with laurels
Any plant of the family Lauraceae.
Any of various plants of other families that resemble laurels.
(historical) An English gold coin made in 1619, and so called because the king's head on it was crowned with laurel.

Verb

laurel (third-person singular simple present laurels, present participle (US) laureling or (UK) laurelling, simple past and past participle (US) laureled or (UK) laurelled)

(transitive) To decorate with laurel, especially with a laurel wreath.
- Windows peered from the spaces between the columns, which rose to hold up the large portico laureling the home with chiseled, decorative wreaths and curving spirals.2014, Cayden Carrico, A Nocturne of Echoes, →ISBN, page 32
(transitive) To enwreathe.
- It wasn't hot this late in the year, and the sun was low in the southern sky, bracketed by pines and nearly hidden by a tree line laureling a trailer park.2013, John Hornor Jacobs, The Twelve-Fingered Boy, →ISBN, page 161
(informal, transitive) To award top honours to.
- In this regiment there was a young corporal, a native of Little K . He was laurelled and decorated more than many of his companions, for he excelled them all in courage, coolness, and daring. In one thing more he also excelled them — he was cruel, he was dissipated, and he was vicious in his tastes.1866, Archibald Fergusson, The crusher' and the Cross, page 149
- Not in any vision of that order did he figure for most of the admirers who laurelled him on his eightieth birthday and the few who go on laurelling him still.1927, John Mackinnon Robertson, Modern humanists reconsidered, page 29

Noun (2) capitalized: Laurel

Laurel (plural Laurels)

(Mormonism) Formerly, a participant aged sixteen or seventeen years old in the Young Women organization of the LDS Church.

Proper noun capitalized: Laurel

Laurel

A female or male given name from English from the laurel plant.
- "What on earth made Becky give you a name like that?" she'd asked Laurel, on that first occasion.
- "It's the state flower of West Virginia," Laurel told her, smiling. "Where my mother came from."1972, Eudora Welty, The Optimist's Daughter, Random House, →ISBN, page 27
A surname from Spanish.
A municipality of the Philippines; named for Miguel Laurel.
A neighbourhood of Edmonton, Alberta.
A ghost town in Santa Cruz County, California.
A neighborhood of Oakland, California.
A town in Sussex County, Delaware; named for the laurel bushes growing in the area.
A census-designated place in Florida.
A town in Indiana; named for the city in Maryland.
A city in Iowa; named for the community in Ohio.
A city in Maryland.
A city in and one of the two county seats of Jones County, Mississippi; named for the laurel thickets in the area.

Show 10 more meaningsShow fewer meanings

A city in Montana; named for the laurel bushes growing in the area.
A city in Nebraska; named for early settler Laura Martin.
A hamlet in New York.
An unincorporated community in Ohio.
An unincorporated community in Oregon; named for the trees growing in the area, thought to be laurels (later identified as madrones).
An unincorporated community in Tennessee.
A census-designated place in Virginia.
An unincorporated community in Washington.
An unincorporated community in West Virginia.
A river flowing from Lake, Kentucky into the Cumberland at Corbin, Kentucky.

laurel meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

laurel in Hindi

लॉरेल, लौरेल, लॉरल

laurel in Tamil

வெற்றிச் சின்னம்

laurel in Marathi

laurel; distinction: गौरव gaurav

laurel in Urdu

تیز پات

More languagesFewer languages

laurel in Bengali: তেজপাতা জাতীয় চিরহরিৎ গাছ, সম্মান, বিজয়
laurel in Telugu: లారెల్, లారెల్కు
laurel in Malayalam: പുന്നാകം, ലതാകിരീടം, നെന്മേനിവാക
laurel in Kannada: ಹೊಳೆಯುವ ಕಡುಹಸುರು ಎಲೆಗಳುಳ್ಳ ಸಸ್ಯ, ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿಗಳು, ಸನ್ಮಾನಗಳು, ಬಿರುದು ಬಾವಲಿಗಳು
laurel in Punjabi: ਲੌਰੇਲ, ਲਾਰੇਲ, ਲੌਰਲ
laurel in Gujarati: લોરેલ, લૌરેલ, લૉરેલ
laurel in Odia: ଲରେଲ୍, ଲୋରେଲ୍, ଲୋରେଲ
laurel in Nepali: लोरेल, लरेल, लौरेल
laurel in Arabic: غَار ḡār

Examples of laurel in a sentence

I was semi-famous; I had been something, but as one worthy critic remarked: past laurels fade fast.2017, Fiona Lewis, Mistakes Were Made (Some in French), Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 3:
He was laurelled in admiring headlines from both left and right.2010, Andrew Rawnsley, The End of the Party, →ISBN:
In 1973, the modern papist missionary was laurelled an honorary Doctor of Divinity by the institution founded by a Congregationalist missionary to the Indians of the northern wilds.2017, George William Rutler, Cloud of Witnesses: Dead People I Knew When They Were Alive, →ISBN:

All 35 example sentences with laurel

Forms of laurel

Noun
plural	laurels
plural	Laurels
Verb
third-person singular present	laurels
present participle US	laureling
present participle UK	laurelling
past participle US	laureled
past US	laureled
past participle UK	laurelled
past UK	laurelled

Plural of laurel: laurels

Origin of laurel

Inherited from Middle English laurer, laurel, from Anglo-Norman lorer, from Old French lorier, from Vulgar Latin *laurārius, from Latin laurus (“laurel”). Doublet of loureiro.

Words formed from laurel

Phrases with laurel

Words that rhyme with laurel

5 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about laurel

What does laurel mean?: Laurel means an evergreen shrub of species Laurus nobilis, having aromatic leaves of a lanceolate shape, with clusters of small, yellowish white flowers in their axils.
What is laurel in Hindi?: Laurel in Hindi is लॉरेल, लौरेल, लॉरल. See Laurel meaning in Hindi.
How do you use laurel in a sentence?: I was semi-famous; I had been something, but as one worthy critic remarked: past laurels fade fast.
What part of speech is laurel?: Laurel can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce laurel?: Laurel is pronounced /ˈlɒɹ.əl/ (UK).
What is the plural of laurel?: The plural of laurel is laurels.

Words near laurel in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: laurel (page history and authors); Laurel (page history and authors); laurel (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); laurel (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); गौरव (Marathi) (page history and authors); laurel (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Laurel (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); laurel (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); laurel (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); laurel (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); laurel (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); laurel (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); laurel (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); laurel (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-laurel.ogg.

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