lily English · revision 15186

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=971|origins=la līlium}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈlɪl.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|lilie]], [[inh|ang|lilie]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) [[bor|la|līlium|t=lily]], or its plural [[m|la|līlia]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from the same non-Indo-European source as [[grc|λείριον|tr=leírion|t=lily]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline suggests both came from an eastern Mediterranean word, and de Vaan compares a Coptic word for lily,^(Etymonline) which Barnhart traces to Egyptian.^(Barnhart 1988) The Latin word became the general word across Europe, as in [[nl|lelie]], [[sv|lilja]], [[fr|lis]], [[es|lirio]] and [[it|giglio]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Any plant or flower of the genus Lilium: 971 in Old English;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) as Middle English lilie about 1150.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The lily was used in the Old Testament to translate a Hebrew word, and in the New Testament to translate [[grc|κρίνον|tr=krínon]].^(Etymonline) It became a figure of whiteness, fairness and purity,^(Etymonline) and the adjective, pure or lovely like a white lily, is from before 1533.^(Barnhart 1988) Related plants, such as the belladonna lily, were called lilies from 1555.^(OED 1989) ''Lily of the valley'' (1538) translates [[la|līlium convallium]] of the Vulgate, a literal rendering of the Hebrew in the Song of Solomon; 16th-century German herbalists seem to have first applied it to the plant now so called.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) ''Lily pad'' is American English, from 1834.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 971 – lily (Old English).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1150 – lilie.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1533 – lily-white, pure.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1538 – lily of the valley.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1555 – allied plants.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1834 – lily pad.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of various plants of the genus ''Lilium'', growing from scaly [[bulb|alt=bulbs]] and having showy, often trumpet-shaped flowers.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any of various similar or related plants, such as the [[water lily]] or the [[day lily]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The flower or bulb of any of these plants.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lilylike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lilac]]

+ * [[fleur-de-lis]]

+ * [[lily of the valley]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In dialects of Scotland and England, ''lily-bind'' was the field bindweed.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}