Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of numerous evergreen or deciduous trees and shrubs of the genus Magnolia of the Western Hemisphere and Asia, having large, showy, often fragrant white, pink, purple, or yellow flowers, and widely cultivated as ornamentals.
  • noun The flower of any of these plants.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A genus of plants, type of the natural order Magnoliaceœ and the tribe Magnolieœ, characterized by a sessile cone-shaped cluster of pistils, and two-ovuled persistent carpels which open down the back at maturity.
  • noun [l. c] A plant of this genus.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A genus of American and Asiatic trees, with aromatic bark and large sweet-scented whitish or reddish flowers.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a beautiful North American wood warbler (Dendroica maculosa). The rump and under parts are bright yellow; the breast and belly are spotted with black; the under tail coverts are white; the crown is ash.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A tree or shrub in any species of the genus Magnolia, many with large flowers and simple leaves.
  • noun The flower of a magnolia tree.
  • noun A native or resident of the American state of Mississippi.
  • noun A creamy white colour, like that of some magnolia flowers.
  • adjective Of a creamy white colour, like that of some magnolia flowers.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any shrub or tree of the genus Magnolia; valued for their longevity and exquisite fragrant blooms
  • noun dried bark of various magnolias; used in folk medicine

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin Magnolia, genus name, after Pierre Magnol, (1638–1715), French botanist.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Named after French botanist Pierre Magnol (1638-1715).

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Examples

  • Feb 22nd, 2010 at 12: 43 pm kcijones001: magnolia is pure crap … I dont get it.

    The Magnoliafication of Midtown Continues | Midtown Lunch - Finding Lunch in the Food Wasteland of NYC's Midtown Manhattan 2010

  • My star magnolia is showing a few pink buds that look ready to burst.

    Happy B-lated Spring! ____Maggie 2008

  • Our odd spring, pushed back so that everything came together, has meant that many plants have been flowering alongside unlikely neighbours, and the magnolia was a good two weeks late.

    London's fragrant front gardens 2010

  • Anyway, the magnolia is a fairly nondescript tree for 50 weeks of the year and, more importantly, it's taking up too much room and blocking out the light from the other plants.

    The tropical paradise in my London garden 2010

  • Beside the magnolia is a nicely landscaped driveway.

    December OOTS*-Looking For Merry « Fairegarden 2009

  • Unlike white magnolia, which is peach-like and very light, champaca has a penetrating, smooth and rich aroma that is reminiscent of tea, spices, and a floral note that is often compared to orange blossom.

    Champaca Flowers vs. Nag Champa Incense Ayala Sender 2007

  • Unlike white magnolia, which is peach-like and very light, champaca has a penetrating, smooth and rich aroma that is reminiscent of tea, spices, and a floral note that is often compared to orange blossom.

    Archive 2007-06-01 Ayala Sender 2007

  • I also have Fleur Imperiale, the limited edition for summer 2006 – pleasantly based on myrrh like Fleur de Shanghai, but lacking the unique sweetness of magnolia, which is replaced but a much less significant or authentic osmanthus and apricot blossoms.

    Archive 2006-06-01 Ayala Sender 2006

  • EHRLICH: The magnolia is the state flower of both Louisiana and Mississippi.

    CNN Transcript Sep 16, 2005 2005

  • EHRLICH: The magnolia is the state flower of both Louisiana and Mississippi so we've got one and we've got 144 of them which we're going to give to presenters and performers on the show.

    CNN Transcript Sep 18, 2005 2005

Comments

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  • "The man who has become completely deaf cannot even heat a pan of milk by his bedside without having to keep an eye open to watch, on the tilted lid, fr the white hyperborean reflexion, like that of a coming snowstorm, which is the premonitory sign it is wise to obey by cutting off (as the Lord stilled the waves) the electric current; for already the fitfully swelling egg of the boiling milk is reaching its climax in a series of sidelong undulations, puffs out and fills a few drooping sails that had been puckered by the cream, sending a nacreous spinnaker bellying out in the hurricane, until the cutting off of the current, if the electric storm is exorcised in time, will make them all twirl round on themselves and scatter like magnolia petals."

    --The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin, Revised by D.J. Enright, pp 94-95 of the Modern Library paperback edition

    August 4, 2008

  • Owww! Brain hurts!

    August 4, 2008