magnolia

What it means

1. countableA tree or shrub in any species of the genus Magnolia, many with large flowers and simple leaves.

   There are clusters of magnolias that are so tall and green and glossy, they are impossible to climb, and the air around them always smells like peaches.

   2011, Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones, Bloomsbury (2017), page 158

2. countableThe flower of a magnolia tree.
3. countableA native or resident of the American state of Mississippi.

In a sentence

There are clusters of magnolias that are so tall and green and glossy, they are impossible to climb, and the air around them always smells like peaches.

2011, Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones, Bloomsbury (2017), page 158

Where it comes from

1. Proto-Indo-European*m̥ǵh₂nós
2. Proto-Italic*magnos
3. Latinmagnus
4. translingualMagnolia
5. Englishmagnolia

Borrowed from translingual Magnolia, from French Magnol + -ia. Named after French botanist Pierre Magnol (1638–1715). The surname is a form of the male given name Magne, from Latin magnus, which in turn from Proto-Italic *magnos, from Proto-Indo-European *m̥ǵh₂nós, from *méǵh₂s (“great”). .