allium

[al-ee-uh m]

noun

any bulbous plant belonging to the genus Allium, of the amaryllis family, having an onion odor and flowers in a round cluster, including the onion, leek, shallot, garlic, and chive.

a substance occurring in garlic bulbs that has antibiotic properties.

Origin of allium

1800–10; < New Latin, Latin: garlic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for allium

Contemporary Examples of allium

In Tennessee and West Virginia, festivals are held to celebrate allium tricoccum, which are also known as wild leeks.
What to Eat: Spring Feast
Cookstr.com
March 9, 2010

Historical Examples of allium

The Mohammedans do not seem to have reverenced the Allium tribe.
Storyology
Benjamin Taylor
From the bruised bulbs or cloves of Allium sativum, or garlic.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II
Arnold Cooley
Moly seems to have been Allium moly, one of the onion or garlic family.
The Romance of Plant Life
G. F. Scott Elliot
From all these facts I am led to believe that Allium ascalonicum is not a species.
Origin of Cultivated Plants
Alphonse De Candolle
There are several kinds of Muilla, much like Brodiaea and very much like Allium, but with no onion taste or smell.
Field Book of Western Wild Flowers
Margaret Armstrong

British Dictionary definitions for allium

allium

noun

any plant of the genus Allium, such as the onion, garlic, shallot, leek, or chive: family Alliaceae

Word Origin for allium

C19: from Latin: garlic

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012