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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

lilac.

A large shrub of the genus Syringa, especially Syringa vulgaris, bearing white, pale-pink, or purple flowers.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈlaɪlək/UK/ˈlaɪlək/US/ˈlaɪlæk/US/ˈlaɪlɑk/US
  1. A large shrub of the genus Syringa, especially Syringa vulgaris, bearing white, pale-pink, or purple flowers.

  2. A flower of the lilac shrub.

  3. A pale purple color, the color of some lilac flowers.

  4. A cat having a lilac-colored (pale brown) coat.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *neyH-der.? Sanskrit नील॑ (nī́la)der. Middle Persian 𐭭𐭩𐭫 (nīl) Classical Persian نِیل (nīl) Middle Persian 𐭪 (k /⁠-ak⁠/) Classical Persian ـَک (-ak) Classical Persian لِیلَک (līlak)bor. Arabic لِيلَك (līlak)bor. French lilacbor. English lilac From obsolete French lilac (now lilas), from Arabic لِيلَك (līlak).

adj/ˈlaɪlək/UK/ˈlaɪlək/US/ˈlaɪlæk/US/ˈlaɪlɑk/US
  1. Having a pale purple colour.

  2. Of a cat or its fur: having a pale brown colour, lighter than chocolate.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *neyH-der.? Sanskrit नील॑ (nī́la)der. Middle Persian 𐭭𐭩𐭫 (nīl) Classical Persian نِیل (nīl) Middle Persian 𐭪 (k /⁠-ak⁠/) Classical Persian ـَک (-ak) Classical Persian لِیلَک (līlak)bor. Arabic لِيلَك (līlak)bor. French lilacbor. English lilac From obsolete French lilac (now lilas), from Arabic لِيلَك (līlak).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.