Hypertext Webster Gateway: "lilac"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Lilac \Li"lac\ (l[imac]"lak), n. [Also {lilach}.] [Sp. lilac,
lila, Ar. l[=i]lak, fr. Per. l[=i]laj, l[=i]lanj, l[=i]lang,
n[=i]laj, n[=i]l, the indigo plant, or from the kindred
l[=i]lak bluish, the flowers being named from the color. Cf.
{Anil}.]
1. (Bot.) A shrub of the genus {Syringa}. There are six
species, natives of Europe and Asia. {Syringa vulgaris},
the common lilac, and {S. Persica}, the Persian lilac, are
frequently cultivated for the fragrance and beauty of
their purplish or white flowers. In the British colonies
various other shrubs have this name.
2. A light purplish color like that of the flower of the
purplish lilac.
{California lilac} (Bot.), a low shrub with dense clusters of
purplish flowers ({Ceanothus thyrsiflorus}).
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
lilac
adj : of a pale purple color [syn: {lavender}]
n : any of various plants of the genus Syringa having large
panicles of usually fragrant flowers
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