syringa

[ suh-ring-guh ]

noun

mock orange (def. 1).
any shrub or tree of the genus Syringa, including the lilacs.

Origin of syringa

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. 2023

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.
Bird Lore, Volume I--1899 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for syringa

syringa

/ (sɪˈrɪŋɡə) /

noun

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

Origin of syringa

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

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