any shrub or tree of the genus Magnolia, having large, usually fragrant flowers and an aromatic bark, much cultivated for ornament.
the blossom of any such shrub or tree, as of the evergreen magnolia tree: the state flower of Louisiana and Mississippi.
any tree or shrub of the magnoliaceous genus Magnolia of Asia and North America: cultivated for their white, pink, purple, or yellow showy flowers
the flower of any of these plants
a very pale pinkish-white or purplish-white colour
< New Latin (Linnaeus), after Pierre Magnol (1638–1715), French botanist; see -ia
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We had a massive magnolia tree in the front yard.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 20, 2026
It was the magnolia in the backyard she loved.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 24, 2025
To turn a magnolia leaf into circuit board material, Nair first stripped it down to its skeleton by chemically removing the leaf’s cells.
From Science Magazine • Nov. 24, 2024
The scientists tested birch, cherry, and a kind of Japanese magnolia called honoki.
From NewsForKids.net • Nov. 6, 2024
Sheriff Sanders stands in front of me, like he knew I was standing beneath that magnolia tree across the road and was waiting for me to knock on his door.
From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
