lilac

/ˈlaɪlək/

lilac means having a pale purple colour.

lilac is pronounced /ˈlaɪlək/.

Why “lilac” is a great word

A pale purple color, or a large shrub of the genus Syringa bearing fragrant clusters of such-colored flowers. From French lilac, from Spanish lilac, from Arabic līlak, from Persian līlak, variant of nīlak ('bluish'), from nīl ('indigo, blue'), first attested in English c. 1625. Unlike lavender, which evokes a cooler, grayish-purple hue tied to the herb’s dry scent, or mauve, which carries the chemical dullness of its synthetic dye origin, lilac is warmth and bloom in equal measure. It is the fragrant haze enveloping a May hedgerow, the soft explosion of scent arriving before the source, the delicate stain on the sky just before twilight surrenders to night—the color not of distance or artifice, but of spring’s tender, insistently living breath.

Etymology

From lilac.

adj

Having a pale purple colour.
Of a cat or its fur: having a pale brown colour, lighter than chocolate.

name

A female given name from English.e.g.“"Lilac Kingsmith," I said. "What a neat name."”

noun

A large shrub of the genus Syringa, especially Syringa vulgaris, bearing white, pale-pink, or purple flowers.
A flower of the lilac shrub.
A pale purple color, the color of some lilac flowers.
A cat having a lilac-colored (pale brown) coat.

Words closest in meaning

By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.

lavender 72% match — Any of a group of European plants, genus, Lavandula, of the mint family. vs lilac →
lavenderish 62% match — Resembling lavender. vs lilac →
lavendery 61% match — Resembling lavender. vs lilac →
periwinkle 56% match — Any of several evergreen plants of the genus Vinca with blue or white flowers. vs lilac →
delphinium 55% match — A cultivated plant, belonging to the genus Delphinium, with tall blue-colored spikes containing flowers; a larkspur. vs lilac →
liliaceous 55% match — of the Liliaceae family, which contains the lily, and tulip, but which formerly contained a great number of plants now in other families. vs lilac →
lind 54% match — The lime tree, or linden tree. vs lilac →
violaceous 53% match — Violet-colored. vs lilac →