laurel
/ˈlɔɹ.əl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.63 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An evergreen shrub of species Laurus nobilis, having aromatic leaves of a lanceolate shape, with clusters of small, yellowish white flowers in their axils.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Laurel leaves were used in the Orient to promote amatory exercise."
- "to win laurels"
- "to crown with laurels"
- "I was semi-famous; I had been something, but as one worthy critic remarked: past laurels fade fast."
- "Windows peered from the spaces between the columns, which rose to hold up the large portico laureling the home with chiseled, decorative wreaths and curving spirals."
- "It wasn't hot this late in the year, and the sun was low in the southern sky, bracketed by pines and nearly hidden by a tree line laureling a trailer park."
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English laurer, laurel, from Anglo-Norman lorer, from Old French lorier, from Vulgar Latin *laurārius, from Latin laurus (“laurel”). Doublet of loureiro.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈlɔɹ.əl/
- British English: /ˈlɒɹ.əl/