Dictionary

laurel en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈlɔːɹ.əl/ (UK)
• /ˈlɔɹ.əl/ (US)
• /ˈlɒɹ.əl/ (UK)

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.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) An evergreen shrub of species Laurus nobilis, having aromatic leaves of a lanceolate shape, with clusters of small, yellowish white flowers in their axils.
   • Laurel leaves were used in the Orient to promote amatory exercise. 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 136:
2. (countable, uncountable) A crown of laurel.
3. (countable, figuratively, in-plural, uncountable) Honor, distinction, fame.
   • I was semi-famous; I had been something, but as one worthy critic remarked: past laurels fade fast. 2017, Fiona Lewis, Mistakes Were Made (Some in French), Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 3:
   • to win laurels
   • to crown with laurels
4. (countable, uncountable) Any plant of the family Lauraceae.
5. (countable, uncountable) Any of various plants of other families that resemble laurels.
6. (countable, historical, uncountable) An English gold coin made in 1619, and so called because the king's head on it was crowned with laurel.

Forms

Deriveds

Oregon laurel · laurel soap · spurge laurel · California laurel · spurge-laurel · Laurel Hill · Laurel County · camphor laurel · dog-laurel · laurel wreath · Azores laurel · Laurel Springs · American laurel · West Indian laurel · New Zealand laurel · cherry laurel · mountain laurel · sit on one's laurels · laurel rose · Alexandrian laurel · laurel sumac · true laurel · Chilean laurel · Macleay laurel · laurel oak · Grecian laurel · spotted laurel · bat laurel · bay laurel · laurel green · laurel dodder · bog laurel · rest on one's laurels · great laurel · Mount Laurel · Portugal laurel · Queensland laurel · laurel water · rose laurel · laurel hell · ground laurel · sheep laurel

Relateds

Laura · laurestine · Lauretta · Laurence · lauraceous · laureate · laurustinus · Lauren · lauriferous

Translations (111)

pl wawrzyn (crown of laurel) · de Lorbeerkranz (crown of laurel) · pl wawrzyn (honor, distinction) · kk дәмжапырақ (Laurus nobilis) · pms lauro (Laurus nobilis) · rup lavru (Laurus nobilis) · uk лавро́вий віно́к (crown of laurel) · mi roera (Laurus nobilis) · de Lorbeer (Laurus nobilis) · fo lavrber (Laurus nobilis) · lb Lorber (Laurus nobilis) · fr couronne de laurier (crown of laurel) · ang lāurbēam (Laurus nobilis) · hy դափնի (Laurus nobilis) · bg лавър (Laurus nobilis) · es corona de laurel (crown of laurel) · he עָר (Laurus nobilis) · kw baywedhen (Laurus nobilis) · bg лавров венец (crown of laurel) · he דַּפְנָה (Laurus nobilis) · oc laurièr (Laurus nobilis) · pl laur (honor, distinction) · ru ла́вры (honor, distinction) · fr lauriers (honor, distinction) · pt louro (Laurus nobilis) · nl laurierkroon (crown of laurel) · mk ла́воров ве́нец (crown of laurel) · sv lager (Laurus nobilis) · hu babérkoszorú (crown of laurel) · da laurbærkrans (crown of laurel) · no laurbær (Laurus nobilis) · hy դափնեպսակ (crown of laurel) · ro coroană de lauri (crown of laurel) · grc δάφνη (Laurus nobilis) · fi laakeriseppele (crown of laurel) · hy դափնի (honor, distinction) · el δάφνη (Laurus nobilis) · sc lavru (Laurus nobilis) · ca corona de llorer (crown of laurel) · cy llawryf (Laurus nobilis) · uk лавро́вий віне́ць (crown of laurel) · lmo làor (Laurus nobilis) · pt louros (crown of laurel) · ro dafin (Laurus nobilis) · wa lawris (crown of laurel) · fo lavrberjatræ (Laurus nobilis) · pt louros (honor, distinction) · it corona d'alloro (crown of laurel) · fur orâr (Laurus nobilis) · pl wawrzyn (Laurus nobilis) · sk vavrín (Laurus nobilis) · fr couronne de lauriers (crown of laurel) · hu babér (Laurus nobilis) · eu ereinotz (Laurus nobilis) · cop ⲇⲁⲃⲛⲏⲥ (Laurus nobilis) · fr laurier (Laurus nobilis) · sv lagerkrans (crown of laurel) · sh ло̏во̄р (Laurus nobilis) · tr defne (Laurus nobilis) · sw taji la mbei (crown of laurel) · nl lauwerkrans (crown of laurel) · kw lowrwydh (Laurus nobilis) · sc laru (Laurus nobilis) · cmn 月桂 (Laurus nobilis) · uk лавр (Laurus nobilis) · mk ла́вров ве́нец (crown of laurel) · be лаўр (Laurus nobilis) · rgn mlöri (Laurus nobilis) · nl laurier (Laurus nobilis) · sw mbei (Laurus nobilis) · wa lawris (honor, distinction) · hu babérkoszorú (honor, distinction) · ca llorer (Laurus nobilis) · ro laur (Laurus nobilis) · fo lavrberjakransur (crown of laurel) · el δάφνες (honor, distinction) · ka დაფნა (Laurus nobilis) · ar غَار (Laurus nobilis) · pt loureiro (Laurus nobilis) · da laurbær (Laurus nobilis) · ru лавр (Laurus nobilis) · el κότινος (crown of laurel) · sl lôvor (Laurus nobilis) · la laurus (Laurus nobilis) · gl loureiro (Laurus nobilis) · bg почести (honor, distinction) · mk по́чести (honor, distinction) · kw baywydh (Laurus nobilis) · mk ла́вор (Laurus nobilis) · pl laur (Laurus nobilis) · cs vavřín (Laurus nobilis) · pt coroa de louros (crown of laurel) · kw lowrwedhen (Laurus nobilis) · ja 月桂 (Laurus nobilis) · it alloro (Laurus nobilis) · wa lawri (Laurus nobilis) · no laurbærkrans (crown of laurel) · gl gamallo (Laurus nobilis) · et loorber (Laurus nobilis) · sh lȍvōr (Laurus nobilis) · fi laakerit (honor, distinction) · es laurel (Laurus nobilis) · pl laur (crown of laurel) · uk ла́ври (honor, distinction) · arz لاوري (Laurus nobilis) · eo laŭro (Laurus nobilis) · cy llawrwydd (Laurus nobilis) · la laurea (Laurus nobilis) · fi laakeri (Laurus nobilis) · ru ла́вровый вено́к (crown of laurel) · sc lau (Laurus nobilis)

laurel en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈlɔːɹ.əl/ (UK)
• /ˈlɔɹ.əl/ (US)
• /ˈlɒɹ.əl/ (UK)

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.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To decorate with laurel, especially with a laurel wreath.
   • 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. 2014, Cayden Carrico, A Nocturne of Echoes, →ISBN, page 32:
2. (transitive) To enwreathe.
   • 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. 2013, John Hornor Jacobs, The Twelve-Fingered Boy, →ISBN, page 161:
3. (informal, transitive) To award top honours to.
   • In this regiment there was a young corporal, a native of Little K . He was laurelled and decorated more than many of his companions, for he excelled them all in courage, coolness, and daring. In one thing more he also excelled them — he was cruel, he was dissipated, and he was vicious in his tastes. 1866, Archibald Fergusson, The crusher' and the Cross, page 149:
   • Not in any vision of that order did he figure for most of the admirers who laurelled him on his eightieth birthday and the few who go on laurelling him still. 1927, John Mackinnon Robertson, Modern humanists reconsidered, page 29:
   • In 1973, the modern papist missionary was laurelled an honorary Doctor of Divinity by the institution founded by a Congregationalist missionary to the Indians of the northern wilds. 2017, George William Rutler, Cloud of Witnesses: Dead People I Knew When They Were Alive, →ISBN:
   • He was laurelled in admiring headlines from both left and right. 2010, Andrew Rawnsley, The End of the Party, →ISBN:

Forms

Relateds

Laurel and Hardy