lilac
UK/ˈlaɪlək//ˈlaɪlək/
lilac noun: a large shrub of the genus Syringa, especially Syringa vulgaris, bearing white, pale-pink, or purple flowers.
Noun
lilac (plural lilacs)
- A large shrub of the genus Syringa, especially Syringa vulgaris, bearing white, pale-pink, or purple flowers.
- Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like...1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Afterglow”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 168
- A flower of the lilac shrub.
- […] O death, I cover you over with roses and early lilies, / But mostly and now the lilac that blooms the first, / Copious I break, I break the sprigs from the bushes, / With loaded arms I come, pouring for you, / For you and the coffins all of you O death.1865, Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d and other poems
- A pale purple color, the color of some lilac flowers.
- A cat having a lilac-colored (pale brown) coat.
Adjective
lilac (comparative more lilac, superlative most lilac)
Proper noun capitalized: Lilac
Lilac
- A female given name from English.
- "Lilac Kingsmith," I said. "What a neat name."1989, Barbara Corcoran, The Potato Kid, page 23
- As he worked he said conversationally: ‘You’re Lilac Larkin, ain’t you? I reckernise you from your photograph.’1993, Katie Flynn, The Girl from Penny Lane, page 291
lilac meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Kannada
lilac in Hindi
- shrub
- बकायन bakāyan
- flower
- बकायन bakāyan
lilac in Tamil
- இளம் ஊதா
lilac in Urdu
- shrub
- بکاین bakāyan
- flower
- بکاین bakāyan
lilac in Kannada
- ನಸುಪಾಟಲ, ಊದಾಬಣ್ಣದ
More languagesFewer languages
- lilac in Tagalog
- lila
- lilac in Arabic
- لَيْلَك laylak, لَيْلَكِيّ laylakiyy
- lilac in Indonesian
- lila
- lilac in Persian
- یاس شیروانی yâs-e širvâni
Examples of lilac in a sentence
- I was set on developing a lilac enfleurage from my own shrub.
- It's black with a sporty pattern of lilac stripes down the sides.
- They could hardly see me behind an enormous bunch of lilacs.
Forms of lilac
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | lilacs |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more lilac |
| superlative | most lilac |
Origin of lilac
From obsolete French lilac (now lilas), from Arabic لِيلَك (līlak).
From lilac.
Words formed from lilac
- California lilac
- lilac-breasted roller
- lilac chaser
- lilacin
- lilac persimmon
- lilac-throated roller
- lilacwater
- West Indian lilac
- Afghanistan lilac
- Australian lilac
- Cape lilac
- Chinese lilac
- common lilac
- cutleaf lilac
- daphne lilac
- early lilac
- French lilac
- German lilac
- Himalayan lilac
- Hungarian lilac
- hyacinth lilac
- Indian lilac
- Japanese tree lilac
- Japan tree lilac
- Japanese lilac
- Korean lilac
- late lilac
- lilac-crowned parrot
- lilac daphne
- lilac kingfisher
- lilac mildew
- lilac point
- lilac vine
- lilacky
- littleleaf lilac
- mountain lilac
- native lilac
- New Zealand lilac
- nodding lilac
- Peking lilac
- Persian lilac
- summer lilac
- wild lilac
Phrases with lilac
Questions about lilac
- What does lilac mean?
- Lilac means a large shrub of the genus Syringa, especially Syringa vulgaris, bearing white, pale-pink, or purple flowers.
- What is lilac in Hindi?
- Lilac in Hindi is बकायन (bakāyan). See Lilac meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is lilac?
- Lilac can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce lilac?
- Lilac is pronounced /ˈlaɪlək/ (UK).
- What is the plural of lilac?
- The plural of lilac is lilacs.
Words near lilac in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lilac (page history and authors); Lilac (page history and authors); lilac (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); lilac (Kannada Wiktionary) (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: en-us-lilac.ogg.
Cite this entry: “lilac.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lilac. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.