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• garland
  garland

  noun

  a wreath or festoon of flowers, leaves, or other material, worn for ornament or as an honor or hung on something as a decoration.
• Garland
  Garland

  noun

  Hamlin 1860–1940, U.S. novelist, short-story writer, and poet.

garland

¹ American  

[gahr-luhnd] / ˈgɑr lənd /

noun

• garlands
  plural

1. a wreath or festoon of flowers, leaves, or other material, worn for ornament or as an honor or hung on something as a decoration.

   A garland of laurel was placed on the winner's head.

2. a representation of such a wreath or festoon.

3. a collection of short literary pieces, as poems and ballads; literary miscellany.

4. Nautical. a band, collar, or grommet, as of rope.

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verb (used with object)

• garlands,
  present (3rd person singular)
• garlanded,
  past participle,  past
• garlanding
  present participle

1. to crown with a garland; deck with garlands.

Garland ² American  

[gahr-luhnd] / ˈgɑr lənd /

noun

1. Hamlin 1860–1940, U.S. novelist, short-story writer, and poet.

2. Judy Frances Gumm, 1922–69, U.S. singer and actress.

3. a city in NE Texas, near Dallas.

4. a male or female given name.

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garland ¹ British  

/ ˈɡɑːlənd /

noun

1. a wreath or festoon of flowers, leaves, etc, worn round the head or neck or hung up

2. a representation of such a wreath, as in painting, sculpture, etc

3. a collection of short literary pieces, such as ballads or poems; miscellany or anthology

4. nautical a ring or grommet of rope

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verb

1. (tr) to deck or adorn with a garland or garlands

Garland ² British  

/ ˈɡɑːlənd /

noun

1. Judy, real name Frances Gumm. 1922–69, US singer and film actress. Already a child star, she achieved international fame with The Wizard of Oz (1939). Later films included Meet Me in St Louis (1944) and A Star is Born (1954)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• ungarland
  verb (used with object)
• garlandless
  adjective
• garlandlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• garlands
  plural

Participles

• garlanding
  present
• garlanded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• garland
  simple
• garlands
  simple
• have garlanded
  perfect
• has garlanded
  perfect
• am garlanding
  progressive
• are garlanding
  progressive
• is garlanding
  progressive
• have been garlanding
  perfect progressive
• has been garlanding
  perfect progressive

Past

• garlanded
  simple
• had garlanded
  perfect
• was garlanding
  progressive
• were garlanding
  progressive
• had been garlanding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will garland
  simple
• will have garlanded
  perfect
• will be garlanding
  progressive
• will have been garlanding
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of garland

1275–1325; Middle English ger ( e ) lande, garlande < Old French < ?

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Explanation

A garland is a circular arrangement of flowers, worn or hung for decoration. Think of the strings of pine and holly people hang at holiday time, or the ring of roses they put around the Kentucky Derby winner's neck. First recorded circa 1300, the word garland in the simplest terms means a circle of flowers or other greenery. Hawaiian leis are a type of garland, as are holiday wreaths and the little flower crowns that flower girls wear at weddings. If you want to get spiritual about garlands, you can refer back to this Buddha quote: "Fashion your life as a garland of beautiful deeds."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

garland Garland garlands garlanded garlanding

“If you had a tree or some garland with 1,000 lights, it might have 800. Things will just get watered down, and so you will be paying the same, if not more, for less.”

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 8, 2026

This year, for the first time, Pons is also trying to create a more festive atmosphere inside the store with holiday decorations, such as a garland at the checkout desk.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 6, 2025

When fall rolls around, they loop a simple garland of leaves around the bar—nothing fancy, just a whisper of the season.

From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2025

The image featured a smiling couple in formal attire under a clip art–style garland holding various baby-themed items, along with an email and phone number where I could reach them.

From Slate ● Jul. 16, 2025

The garland I was holding became an encumbrance, I felt I had been stupid to buy it.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

In a tribute to the beloved bar, The Times’ Chad Garland wrote in 2014:

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Ingram, the centerpiece of the Leonard trade, is a solid three-level scorer and will shoulder much of the offensive load alongside Garland — when healthy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

“It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster,” then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said when the lawsuit was filed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

The Stacys and other families filed formal requests in September 2023 to the attorney general’s office, then led by Merrick Garland, which administers the fund.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

“I guess you know what the results will be; Garland must have told you something. Facts which I don’t know.”

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

For the last year, “Gracias Gustavo” garlands have adorned the city, thanking Dudamel for doing just that during his 17 seasons heading the L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Relatives also visited the blackened bar on Tuesday morning, laying garlands and praying for the dead, AFP reporters saw.

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

The Erawan Shrine remains a popular draw for Chinese and other tourists to the Thai capital, and dozens of visitors made traditional offerings of marigold garlands and incense as usual on Thursday.

From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026

Marigold garlands and a wreath were placed on top.

From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2026

By lunchtime I was knotting the garlands into neat circles and tossing them onto the heap of garlands as quickly as Tanu and the others.

From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan

Our streets are garlanded with “Gracias, Gustavo” banners and billboards.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026

She hit the buzzer at the first high chain-link fence, which was garlanded with a spool of razor wire atop.

From Slate ● May 2, 2025

Boy wonder Ingebrigtsen, a year after winning gold in an Olympic record in Tokyo, arrived at the 2022 Worlds in Eugene expecting to be garlanded with gold again.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2024

They had been released in 2022, when they were garlanded with flowers by their families and a lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 5, 2024

She stops winding, leaving me with my hands still garlanded with animal hair, and takes the cigarette end from her mouth to butt it out.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

Networks pay out big salaries to be able to have the most familiar faces, the most famous names and the most compelling characters sit awkwardly around a low-slung table, garlanding the coverage.

From New York Times ● May 17, 2024

They could be seen garlanding the workers, embracing them and giving them sweets.

From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2023

And in 105- degree heat, hundreds of well-wishers leaned out from balconies, snapped photos and pushed forward to greet him, garlanding him with marigolds, pelting him with flower petals and offering sweets.

From Washington Post ● May 27, 2015

Photograph: Allstar/Universal Pictures; David James; Allstar After indulging Europe by garlanding The Artist last year and The King's Speech in 2011, the Oscars seem set to come home.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 21, 2013

On another wall was a framed photograph of Comrade Pillai garlanding Comrade E. M. S. Namboodiripad.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

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