tupelo

¹ American  

[too-puh-loh, tyoo-] / ˈtu pəˌloʊ, ˈtyu- /

noun

plural

tupelos

1. any of several trees of the genus Nyssa, having ovate leaves, clusters of minute flowers, and purple, berrylike fruit, especially N. aquatica, of swampy regions of the eastern, southern, and midwestern U.S.

2. the soft, light wood of these trees.

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Tupelo ² American  

[too-puh-loh, tyoo-] / ˈtu pəˌloʊ, ˈtyu- /

noun

1. a city in NE Mississippi.

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tupelo British  

/ ˈtjuːpɪˌləʊ /

noun

1. any of several cornaceous trees of the genus Nyssa , esp N. aquatica , a large tree of deep swamps and rivers of the southern US

2. the light strong wood of any of these trees

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Etymology

Origin of tupelo

1720–30, perhaps < Creek *’topilwa literally, swamp tree (equivalent to íto tree + opílwa swamp)

Example Sentences

The treed “Woodland Garden” to the west, with black tupelo and swamp white oaks, gives way to a “Perennial Meadow,” whose asters, purple beebalms and orange butterfly weed were chosen for their chromatic effect.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 24, 2025

There are still some beekeepers today that will use a barge to get their hives into the deep tupelo stands in remote river regions.

From Salon • Jun. 3, 2023

Fair Bluff is small-town idyllic, nestled among fields of corn and tobacco near the South Carolina border, shielded from the Lumber River by a narrow bank of tupelo gum, river birch and bald cypress trees.

From New York Times • Sep. 2, 2021

Nurseries donated other plants, including 58 tupelo trees, each one representing a person lost in the attack.

From Washington Times • Oct. 16, 2017

Frightful in her church and Drum in his tupelo sat quietly through screaming gusts and dead calms.

From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George