Rhododendron
/ɹoʊdəˈdɛndɹən/ noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Oleander (Nerium oleander). obsolete
- 2 any shrub of the genus Rhododendron: evergreen shrubs or small shrubby trees having leathery leaves and showy clusters of campanulate (bell-shaped) flowers wordnet
- 3 Any of various flowering shrubs in the genus Rhododendron, especially
- 4 Any of various flowering shrubs in the genus Rhododendron, especially; Pontic rhododendron, common rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum) UK
Example
More examples"I looked round me. I was on what seemed to be a little lawn in a garden, surrounded by rhododendron bushes, and I noticed that their mauve and purple blossoms were dropping in a shower under the beating of the hail-stones."
Etymology
The obsolete sense derives from Latin rhododendron (“oleander”), from Ancient Greek ῥοδόδενδρον (rhodódendron, “oleander”), from ῥόδον (rhódon, “rose”) + δένδρον (déndron, “tree”). The modern sense comes through the intermediary of the genus name Rhododendron, not closely related taxonomically, but with similar flowers to those of oleander.