tu·lip

(to͞o′lĭp, tyo͞o′-)

1. Any of several bulbous plants of the genus Tulipa of the lily family, native chiefly to Asia and widely cultivated for their showy, variously colored, cup-shaped flowers.

2. The flower of any of these plants.

[French tulipe, alteration of tulipan, from Ottoman Turkish tülbend, piece of muslin used as a headscarf or head covering, from earlier dülbend; see turban.]

Word History: The word tulip, like the cultivated tulip plant itself, has its origins in the Middle East. The tulip figures frequently in Persian verse, where its red color evokes the blood of martyrs and the fire of love, and in Turkey, tulips are associated with the delicate refinement and luxury that characterized the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power. Western European visitors to the Ottoman Empire in the 1500s were astonished by the beautiful expanses of tulips cultivated by the sultans. Tulips were brought to western Europe from the Ottoman Empire sometime in the same century, and the English word tulip ultimately stems from Ottoman Turkish tülbend (modern Turkish tülbent), the word for a piece of muslin used as a headscarf or head covering. The Turkish word for a turban seems to have been used for the flower in western European languages because a fully opened tulip was thought to resemble a turban, the typical headwear of men in the land where tulips originated. (The actual Turkish word for a tulip is lale, from Persian lâle.) Turkish tülbend, used as a name for the tulip, was borrowed into many languages of western Europe as the popularity of the tulip spread, and by the late 1500s it had reached English, in which it was at first variously spelled tulipa, tulipant, and tulip. The English word turban, also first recorded in English in the 1500s, can be traced to Ottoman Turkish tülbend, too.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

tulip

(ˈtjuːlɪp)

1. (Plants) any spring-blooming liliaceous plant of the temperate Eurasian genus Tulipa, having tapering bulbs, long broad pointed leaves, and single showy bell-shaped flowers

2. (Plants) the flower or bulb of any of these plants

[C17: from New Latin tulipa, from Turkish tülbend turban, which the opened bloom was thought to resemble]

ˈtulip-ˌlike adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tu•lip

(ˈtu lɪp, ˈtyu-)

n.

1. any of various plants belonging to the genus Tulipa, of the lily family, having lance-shaped leaves and large, showy, cup-shaped or bell-shaped flowers in a variety of colors.

2. a flower or bulb of such a plant.

[1570–80; earlier tulipa < New Latin, appar. back formation from Italian tulipano (taken as adj.) < Turkish tülbent turban (from a fancied likeness); see turban]

tu′lip•like`, adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

tulip - any of numerous perennial bulbous herbs having linear or broadly lanceolate leaves and usually a single showy flower

liliaceous plant - plant growing from a bulb or corm or rhizome or tuber

genus Tulipa, Tulipa - Eurasian perennial bulbous herbs

dwarf tulip, Tulipa armena, Tulipa suaveolens - small early blooming tulip

candlestick tulip, lady tulip, Tulipa clusiana - Eurasian tulip with small flowers blotched at the base

Tulipa gesneriana - tall late blooming tulip

cottage tulip - any of several long-stemmed tulips that flower in May; have egg-shaped variously colored flowers

Darwin tulip - any of several very tall, late blooming tulips bearing large squarish flowers on sturdy stems

Translations

تُولِيبخُزامى، زَنْبَق

tulipán

tulipan

Tulpe

τουλίπα

tulipán

لاله

tulppaani

tulipe

tulipanlala

tulipán

tulip

túlípani

tulipano

チューリップ

튤립

tulpė

tulpe

tulipán

tulipan

lalatulipanлалатулипан

tulpan

ดอกทิวลิป

lalelâle

cây uất kim hương

郁金香

tulip

[ˈtjuːlɪp]

A. N → tulipán m

B. CPD tulip tree N → tulipanero m, tulipero m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

tulip

[ˈtjuːlɪp]

n → tulipe f

modif [bulb] → de tulipe; [fields] → de tulipes tulip treetulip tree n → tulipier m

tulip

n → Tulpe f; tulip tree → Tulpenbaum m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

tulip

[ˈtjuːlɪp] n → tulipano

tulip

(ˈtjuːlip) noun

a kind of plant with brightly-coloured cup-shaped flowers, grown from a bulb.

tulip

→ تُولِيب tulipán tulipan Tulpe τουλίπα tulipán tulppaani tulipe tulipan tulipano チューリップ 튤립 tulp tulipan tulipan tulipa тюльпан tulpan ดอกทิวลิป lale cây uất kim hương 郁金香

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

(as we are assured by the "Floriste Francaise," the most highly considered authority in matters relating to this flower) is the first word in the Cingalese tongue which was ever used to designate that masterpiece of floriculture which is now called the tulip.

Several fanciers had come to see Boxtel's tulips. At last he had even started amongst all the Linnaeuses and Tourneforts a tulip which bore his name, and which, after having travelled all through France, had found its way into Spain, and penetrated as far as Portugal; and the King, Don Alfonso VI.

In the evening, therefore, he placed a ladder against the partition wall between their gardens, and, looking into that of his neighbour Van Baerle, he convinced himself that the soil of a large square bed, which had formerly been occupied by different plants, was removed, and the ground disposed in beds of loam mixed with river mud (a combination which is particularly favourable to the tulip), and the whole surrounded by a border of turf to keep the soil in its place.

Boxtel at once pictured to himself this learned man, with a capital of four hundred thousand and a yearly income of ten thousand guilders, devoting all his intellectual and financial resources to the cultivation of the tulip. He foresaw his neighbour's success, and he felt such a pang at the mere idea of this success that his hands dropped powerless, his knees trembled, and he fell in despair from the ladder.

And now if Van Baerle produced a new tulip, and named it the John de Witt, after having named one the Cornelius?

Soon people from Dort to Mons began to talk of Mynheer van Baerle's tulips; and his beds, pits, drying-rooms, and drawers of bulbs were visited, as the galleries and libraries of Alexandria were by illustrious Roman travellers.

His exertions, indeed, were crowned with a most magnificent result: he produced three new tulips, which he called the "Jane," after his mother; the "Van Baerle," after his father; and the "Cornelius," after his godfather; the other names have escaped us, but the fanciers will be sure to find them in the catalogues of the times.

In the same degree as Cornelius de Witt had excited the hatred of the people by sowing those evil seeds which are called political passions, Van Baerle had gained the affections of his fellow citizens by completely shunning the pursuit of politics, absorbed as he was in the peaceful pursuit of cultivating tulips.

Mynheer van Baerle was a painter, as Mynheer Boxtel was a tulip-grower; he wanted somewhat more sun for his paintings, and he took half a degree from his neighbour's tulips.

Besides, Isaac had made the discovery that too much sun was injurious to tulips, and that this flower grew quicker, and had a better colouring, with the temperate warmth of morning, than with the powerful heat of the midday sun.

What was the agony of the unfortunate Boxtel on seeing the windows of the new story set out with bulbs and seedlings of tulips for the border, and tulips in pots; in short, with everything pertaining to the pursuits of a tulip-monomaniac!

View in context

He was walking in his garden as we went by, looking at his tulip beds.

View in context