Judas tree

American  

noun

1. a purple-flowered Eurasian tree, Cercis siliquastrum, of the legume family, supposed to be the kind upon which Judas hanged himself.

2. any of various other trees of the same genus, as the redbud.

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Judas tree British  

noun

1. small Eurasian leguminous tree, Cercis siliquastrum, with pinkish-purple flowers that bloom before the leaves appear: popularly thought to be the tree on which Judas hanged himself See also redbud

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Etymology

Origin of Judas tree

First recorded in 1660–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Judas tree

I do not recall the Judas tree in my childhood.

From Old-Time Gardens Newly Set Forth by Alice Morse Earle

Everywhere, for the mere delight of the eye, not from thought of any gain gotten out of it, is the Judas tree covered with pink flowers, standing among the cool grey olives.

From In Troubadour-Land A Ramble in Provence and Languedoc by S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould

What trees there were—the Judas tree, the tamarisk, the umbrella-pine—grew close to the low parapets.

From The Enchanted April by Elizabeth

The tall dogwood, with its clusters of large flowers like swarms of white butterflies, mingled with the Judas tree, whose leafless boughs were densely covered with racemes of purple blossoms.

From Three Years in the Sixth Corps A Concise Narrative of Events in the Army of the Potomac, from 1861 to the Close of the Rebellion, April, 1865 by George T. Stevens

Peering through the bars, between the sombre boughs of a Judas tree, he saw a pretty little white house with a flight of stone steps before the front door, flanked by two blue vases.

From The Aspirations of Jean Servien by Anatole France