Frangipani
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Any of several tropical American shrubs and trees of the genus Plumeria, having fragrant, showy, funnel-shaped flowers of a wide range of colours from creamy to red. countable, uncountable
- 2 any of various tropical American deciduous shrubs or trees of the genus Plumeria having milky sap and showy fragrant funnel-shaped variously colored flowers wordnet
- 3 A flower of these plants. countable, uncountable
"The aroma given off by flowers has an aphrodisiac effect, especially on women. This is so particularly in the case of lilies of the valley, gardenia, frangipani, and henna."
- 4 A perfume obtained from this plant or imitating the odour of its flowers. countable, uncountable
- 5 Alternative form of frangipane (“cream made from ground almonds; pastry filled with this cream”). alt-of, alternative, countable, uncountable
"Lahlou baked a cardamom frangipani and cut it into pieces as a base for roasted chicken. (Well, I used chicken; he used squab. Use whatever bird you fancy.) Then he topped the frangipani and poultry with kale and leaf-thin sugar-and-cardamom-sprinkled phyllo rectangles — made by baking them between baking sheets — like a savory mille-feuille."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"The aroma given off by flowers has an aphrodisiac effect, especially on women. This is so particularly in the case of lilies of the valley, gardenia, frangipani, and henna."
Etymology
From French frangipane, from Italian frangipane. Possibly named after Muzio Frangipane, a 16th-century marquess of the Italian noble Frangipani family, who invented a plumeria-scented perfume. The name Frangipane derives from frangere (“to break”) + pane (“bread”), a reference to the family's distribution of bread in time of famine.
Related phrases
More for "frangipani"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.