syringa

[ suh-ring-guh ]

noun
  1. any shrub or tree of the genus Syringa, including the lilacs.

Origin of syringa

1
1655–65; <New Latin <Greek sȳring- (stem of sŷrinxsyrinx) + New Latin -a-a2; name first given to mock orange, the stems of which were used in pipe-making

Words Nearby syringa

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use syringa in a sentence

  • I could not do without a syringa, for the sake of Cowper's line.

    Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters | William Austen-Leigh and Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh
  • A syringa was planted in front, and a broom-tree on the right united it with the willow; in the middle there was a deal table.

    Camilla | Fanny Burney
  • He hastened beyond a thicket of syringa; then, leaning against a tree, he opened the paper again.

    Friendship and Folly | Maria Louise Pool
  • On the dinner-table with blue and white china, and in June combined with syringa, they make a beautiful and unusual decoration.

    A Woman's Hardy Garden | Helena Rutherfurd Ely
  • For an instant the syringa blossoms loaded the air with fragrance as a dream of summer floated by.

British Dictionary definitions for syringa

syringa

/ (sɪˈrɪŋɡə) /


noun
  1. another name for mock orange, lilac (def. 1)

Origin of syringa

1
C17: from New Latin, from Greek surinx tube, alluding to the use of its hollow stems for pipes

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012