syringa

American  

[suh-ring-guh] / səˈrɪŋ gə /

noun

1. mock orange.

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

---

syringa British  

/ sɪˈrɪŋɡə /

noun

1. another name for mock orange lilac

---

Etymology

Origin of syringa

1655–65; < New Latin < Greek sȳring- (stem of sŷrinx syrinx ) + New Latin -a -a ²; name first given to mock orange, the stems of which were used in pipe-making

Example Sentences

There’s a California lilac — not the true syringa lilac of rhapsodic song and poetry but a ceanothus.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 29, 2022

The poem recalled Dr. Crozier as a bald, bigheaded boy who waged war with syringa berries, “the stick-breaker, the toddler I carried on my shoulders up and down the dirt tracks.”

From New York Times • Dec. 7, 2014

It was called "Heaven Trees," a place of calm walks and lawns, fragrant with myrtle and syringa.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was nearly twilight: I lay flat on top of the wall under the curving branches of a huge syringa bush in full bloom.

From The Slayer Of souls by Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William)

There wasn't a great deal to do—the little dears were going to wear white caps and capes and represent a band of peace; the girls would carry wreaths of white syringa.

From Happy House by Abbott, Jane D.