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trillium

American

[tril-ee-uhm] / ˈtrɪl i əm /

noun

any of several plants belonging to the genus Trillium, of the lily family, having a whorl of three leaves from the center of which rises a solitary, three-petalled flower.

trillium British

/ ˈtrɪljəm /

noun

any herbaceous plant of the genus Trillium , of Asia and North America, having a whorl of three leaves at the top of the stem with a single central white, pink, or purple three-petalled flower: family Trilliaceae

"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

Etymology

Origin of trillium

< New Latin (Linnaeus), apparently alteration of Swedish trilling triplet, alluding to the foliation

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

trillium

Like the three-petaled trillium, the book has three sections.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

Spring’s first trillium shone white in the shadowy forest floor.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 6, 2022

Our forest floors should be carpeted with Virginia bluebells, trillium, skunk cabbage, jewelweed, ferns, spring beauty, trout lily, columbine and more.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 24, 2022

In early summer, they made a game of counting the wild irises or trillium we passed on the way home or to town.

From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2022

She knew where trillium would stand tall, its leaves saying“three” and its petals saying “three.”

From "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023