Meanings
nounsweetshrub (usually uncountable, plural sweetshrubs)
plural sweetshrubs
- uncountableusuallyA deciduous flowering plant of the genus Calycanthus with aromatic bark and flowers.
To screen out the houses, Mr. Darke and Ms. Zoehrer have planted cedars and katsura trees, sweetshrub and shadbush, and turned their gaze inward, to the garden of their own making.
2007 May 31, Anne Raver, “Reshaping Their Own Worldview”, in New York Times
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*sweh₂d-
- Proto-Indo-European*swéh₂dus
- Proto-Germanic*swōtuz
- Proto-West Germanic*swōtī
- Old Englishswēte
- Middle Englishswete
- Englishsweet
- Englishshrub
- Englishsweetshrub
From sweet + shrub, named for the pleasant aroma of the entire plant.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Polish kielichowiec
- kielichowiecshrub
Cite this entry
APA
sweetshrub. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sweetshrub
MLA
“sweetshrub.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sweetshrub. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sweetshrub,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sweetshrub.
Source: sweetshrub on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.