Easter lily

American  

noun

1. any of several white-flowered lilies that are artificially brought into bloom in early spring, especially Lilium longiflorum eximium, native to Taiwan and widely cultivated.

---

Easter lily British  

noun

1. any of various lilies, esp Lilium longiflorum, that have large showy white flowers

---

Etymology

Origin of Easter lily

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

Like most of the others, Tony is growing the Croft, a white, sturdy, strong-stemmed Easter lily that multiplies at the rate of 150 bulbs from one bulb a season, will grow 20,000 to the acre.

From Time Magazine Archive

Startled first-nighters saw the heroine clad as half nun and half Easter lily, her duenna completely faceless, another nun headless and one tavern character with two heads.

From Time Magazine Archive

And next, all in white, and lookin' as slim and graceful as an Easter lily, I makes out Vee; also a young gent in white flannels and a striped tennis blazer.

From On With Torchy by Lincoln, Foster

In the companion panel, "Seedtime," the waiting farmers attend her as she stands, sceptered with an Easter lily, and extends her benison on the land.

From The Sculpture and Mural Decorations of the Exposition A Pictorial Survey of the Art of the Panama-Pacific international exposition by Perry, Stella George Stern

As Lloyd went on, telling of the times she had failed and times she had succeeded, Mary felt as if she were listening to the confessions of a white Easter lily.

From The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor by Barry, Etheldred B. (Etheldred Breeze)