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• magnolia
  magnolia

  noun

  any shrub or tree of the genus Magnolia, having large, usually fragrant flowers and an aromatic bark, much cultivated for ornament.
• Magnolia
  Magnolia

  noun

  a city in SW Arkansas.

magnolia

¹ American  

[mag-nohl-yuh, -noh-lee-uh] / mægˈnoʊl jə, -ˈnoʊ li ə /

noun

• magnolias
  plural

1. any shrub or tree of the genus Magnolia, having large, usually fragrant flowers and an aromatic bark, much cultivated for ornament.

2. the blossom of any such shrub or tree, as of the evergreen magnolia tree: the state flower of Louisiana and Mississippi.

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Magnolia ² American  

[mag-nohl-yuh, -noh-lee-uh] / mægˈnoʊl jə, -ˈnoʊ li ə /

noun

1. a city in SW Arkansas.

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magnolia British  

/ mæɡˈnəʊlɪə /

noun

1. any tree or shrub of the magnoliaceous genus Magnolia of Asia and North America: cultivated for their white, pink, purple, or yellow showy flowers

2. the flower of any of these plants

3. a very pale pinkish-white or purplish-white colour

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• magnolias
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of magnolia

< New Latin (Linnaeus), after Pierre Magnol (1638–1715), French botanist; see -ia

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

magnolia Magnolia magnolias

We had a massive magnolia tree in the front yard.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026

Great British Chefs specified that tonka’s “most distinctive feature” is their “enormous potency — heady vanilla flavours, with oily clove aromas, and perfumed magnolia, sandalwood notes.”

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2025

It was the magnolia in the backyard she loved.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2025

One day, when looking at the large magnolia tree near his institute, “it just clicked”: He could use its leaves instead.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 24, 2024

O golden rings That tap against cheeks of small magnolia leaves, O whitest so soft parchment where My poor divorced lips have written excellent Stanzas of kisses, and will write no more.

From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck

Meg Edmonds' daughter, Magnolia, died aged just 10 days in February and it is suspected the virus may have been passed on by her mother.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

They asked family and neighborhood chat groups for information about Magnolia, and hired someone to check lists of survivors, wounded and missing in hospitals across Caracas.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

For 1927’s “Show Boat,” he served as the dance coach for Norma Terris, the original Magnolia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

In 2013, the last Masters for Bennett, he drove Arnold Palmer back to the airport and they both got teary rolling back down Magnolia Lane and out of the club.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026

He thought for a moment of telling Lupin about the dog he’d seen in Magnolia Crescent but decided not to.

From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling

He said that plants like magnolias and rhododendrons that flower on last year's growth got a boost from the weather in 2025 and are now flowering perhaps seven to 14 days earlier than normal.

From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026

My street has magnolias on it; when they bloom, it takes me back to the magnolias on the street in North Hollywood I lived on when I was a kid.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2025

You will fast be dreaming of a cool breeze under a canopy of mossy live oaks and waxing poetic about longleaf southern pines and fragrant magnolias.

From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2024

Then forsythia, daffodils, magnolias, robins, and cherry trees, on down the line.

From Slate ● Mar. 24, 2024

The smell of magnolias and roses was overpowering.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

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