oleander

[oh-lee-an-der, oh-lee-an-]

noun

1. a poisonous shrub, Nerium oleander, of the dogbane family, native to southern Eurasia, having evergreen leaves and showy clusters of pink, red, or white flowers, and widely cultivated as an ornamental.

oleander

/ ˌəʊlɪˈændə /

noun

1. Also called: rosebay. a poisonous evergreen Mediterranean apocynaceous shrub or tree, Nerium oleander, with fragrant white, pink, or purple flowers

Word History and Origins

Origin of oleander¹

1540–50; < Medieval Latin oleander, oliandrum, obscurely akin to Late Latin laurandrum, perhaps a conflation of Latin laurus laurel and rhododendron rhododendron

Word History and Origins

Origin of oleander¹

C16: from Medieval Latin, variant of arodandrum, perhaps from Latin _rhododendron

Example Sentences

Working at Muir on a rainy February morning, Villegas took a break near a chain-link fence where he and his crew had just cut back some overgrown oleander.

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The perennially under-construction compound, with its “oleander … and old milk cartons … R. Crumb comics, empty tea and coffee mugs, and ashtrays,” was often inhabited, Moon writes, by naked strangers “cavorting or making candles.”

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Once the tree has been infected by oleander leaf scorch, leaves begin to yellow and drop.

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Oleandrin is a poisonous substance found in the leaves of the oleander plant.

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Among the potentially murderous or mind-altering flora are datura, oleander, narcissus and pennyroyal.

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