Lily

¹

Or Lil·ly

[lil-e]

noun

1. a female given name.

lily

²

[lil-ee]

noun

plural

lilies 

1. any scaly-bulbed plant of the genus Lilium, having showy, funnel-shaped or bell-shaped flowers.

2. the flower or the bulb of such a plant.

3. any of various related or similar plants or their flowers, as the mariposa lily or the calla lily.

4. fleur-de-lis, especially as the symbol of France.

5. Bowling.,  a split in which the five, seven, and ten pins remain standing.

adjective

1. white as a lily.

   her lily hands.

2. delicately fair.

   a lily maiden.

3. pure; unsullied.

   the lily truth.

4. pale; fragile; weak.

lily

/ ˈlɪlɪ /

noun

1. any liliaceous perennial plant of the N temperate genus Lilium, such as the Turk's-cap lily and tiger lily, having scaly bulbs and showy typically pendulous flowers

2. the bulb or flower of any of these plants

3. any of various similar or related plants, such as the water lily, plantain lily, and day lily

Other Word Forms

• lilylike adjective
• lily-like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Lily¹

before 1000; Middle English, Old English lilie < Latin līlium; compare Greek leírion

Word History and Origins

Origin of Lily¹

Old English, from Latin līlium; related to Greek leirion lily

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. gild the lily. gild.

see gild the lily.

Example Sentences

All three sections brim with short essays on various plant species such as rose, clover, iris, violet, daisy and lily of the valley, which Dior fashioned into silhouettes and blossoming decorative surfaces.

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Her spotted bamboo chair faces a cluster of white lilies and a curious cat lurking among the garden stones, yet she appears caught in the motion of turning away from this scene.

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The claim is sometime made that funerals are about the living, but that reduces the event to a group therapy session, overlaid with the cloying odor of lilies and gladioli.

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On Sunday, the campaigners laid a black wreath with five white lilies at the steps of Stormont.

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“Flashing fish, lavish lily, megalomaniacal mosquito, pensive poet,” goes his thinking.

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