wisteria
[wi-steer-ee-uh]
- any climbing shrub belonging to the genus Wisteria, of the legume family, having showy, pendent clusters of blue-violet, white, purple, or rose flowers.
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Also wis·tar·i·a [wi-steer-ee-uh, -stair-] /wɪˈstɪər i ə, -ˈstɛər-/.
Origin of wisteria
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for wisteria
Contemporary Examples
What happened on Wisteria Lane in its eighth season just could not compete with that reality.
And Susan leaves Wisteria Lane to help her daughter, Julie, raise her baby.
Historical Examples
He taught us not to be so ignorant as to call them lilies, just as he taught us not to say 'wisteria.'
The Open QuestionElizabeth Robins
The night bore jonquils in her hands and wore a spray of wisteria in her hair.
The Azure RoseReginald Wright Kauffman
Over the fronts of many of them climbed clematis and wisteria.
Dracula's GuestBram Stoker
These fireworks represented different scenes in the history of China, grape vines, wisteria blossoms, and many other flowers.
Two Years in the Forbidden CityThe Princess Der Ling
The modern Japanese wisteria workbaskets for ladies have one or more Swastikas woven in their sides or covers.
The SwastikaThomas Wilson
wisteria
- any twining leguminous woody climbing plant of the genus Wisteria, of E Asia and North America, having blue, purple, or white flowers in large drooping clusters
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Word Origin
C19: from New Latin, named after Caspar Wistar (1761–1818), American anatomist
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
Word Origin and History for wisteria
n.
1819, formed by Thomas Nuttall, English botanist, in recognition of American anatomist Caspar Wistar (1761-1818) of Philadelphia. The -e- apparently is a misprint.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper