tulip

[ too-lip, tyoo- ]

noun

1. any of various plants belonging to the genus Tulipa, of the lily family, cultivated in many varieties, and having lance-shaped leaves and large, showy, usually erect, cup-shaped or bell-shaped flowers in a variety of colors.
2. a flower or bulb of such a plant.

tulip

/ ˈtjuːlɪp /

noun

1. any spring-blooming liliaceous plant of the temperate Eurasian genus Tulipa , having tapering bulbs, long broad pointed leaves, and single showy bell-shaped flowers
2. the flower or bulb of any of these plants

Derived Forms

• ˈtulip-ˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• tulip·like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tulip¹

1570–80; earlier tulipa < New Latin, apparently back formation from Italian tulipano (taken as adj.) < Turkish tülbent turban (from a fancied likeness); turban

Word History and Origins

Origin of tulip¹

C17: from New Latin tulipa , from Turkish tülbend turban, which the opened bloom was thought to resemble

Example Sentences

Food shortages forced the family to eat tulip bulbs to survive.

From Washington Post

Finally, there’s no letdown as you drop down the west side, where the Skagit Valley opens into vast tulip fields and the coastal bluffs and forests of Deception Pass State Park.

From Outside Online

The GoFundMe campaign that House of Tulip has launched has thus far raised $412,995.

From Washington Blade

If you drink from a flute, do so from a tulip-shape one to concentrate the notes, Simonetti-Bryan says.

From The Daily Beast

Tulip Fever will be directed by Justin Chadwick, who also made The Other Boleyn Girl.

From The Daily Beast

Abu Hassar held the tulip up to his nose, still saying nothing.

From The Daily Beast

This is a very early piece by Louise Lawler, titled “(Andy Warhol and Other Artists) Tulip”.

From The Daily Beast

He grew up in Mount Vernon, Washington, a town of 15,000 in those days, perhaps best known as the tulip-bulb capital of America.

From The Daily Beast

It is some ten inches in diameter, tulip-shaped, with a bending lip, and without supports beneath.

From Project Gutenberg

Is not the rose or tulip as great an addition to even a poor man's cottage as his bed of onions or patch of potatoes?

From Project Gutenberg

How dainty is that little tulip-shaped vase, with those half opened wild-rose buds!

From Project Gutenberg

We are attending to a yellower tulip, no doubt, when the only daffodil that Shakespeare knew is opening in the chilly wood.

From Project Gutenberg

Their cries were so pitiful that they touched the heart of the good Fairy Tulip, and she came to their aid.

From Project Gutenberg