magnolian.adj.
/maɡˈnəʊlɪə/, /məɡˈnəʊlɪə/, U.S. /mæɡˈnoʊljə/, /mæɡˈnoʊliə/ A. n.
1. † c. Pharmacology. The aromatic bark of certain magnolia trees, used medicinally. Obsolete.
a. A plant of the genus Magnolia (family Magnoliaceae), which consists of large (rarely shrubby) trees, native chiefly to eastern North America and eastern Asia and bearing usually large, cup-shaped, white, pink, or purple fragrant flowers (also magnolia tree); the wood of such a tree; (in form Magnolia) the genus itself.Many kinds are grown for ornament, esp. the Asian species and their hybrids, which flower in spring before the leaves unfold. The North American species include the sweet bay, Magnolia glauca, the cucumber tree, M. acuminata, and the umbrella tree, M. tripetala.Valid publication of the genus name: Linnaeus Species Plantarum (1753) I. 535.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental trees and shrubs > [noun] > magnolias
sweet bay1716
umbrella-tree1739
swamp laurel1743
magnolia1748
tulip-tree1751
beaver-tree1756
tulip-laurel1766
champakc1770
cucumber-tree1784
mountain magnolia1785
swamp sassafras1796
laurel magnolia1806
beaver-wood1810
big laurel1810
yulan1822
chatta1834
cucumber1835
port wine magnolia1943
magnolioid1988
1748 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 45 166 The Magnolia..tho' scarce in Virginia, has been since found to grow in great plenty in the North-West Parts of Pensylvania.
1751 J. Bartram Observ. Trav. from Pensilvania 67 A great hill, cloathed with large Magnolia, 2 feet diameter and 100 feet high.
1796 W. H. Marshall Planting II. 210 The wood of the Umbrella Tree..is more spongy than any of the other species of Magnolia.
1799 W. Wordsworth Ruth xi He told of the magnolia spread High as a cloud, high over head!
a1821 P. B. Shelley Fragm. Unfinished Drama 146 Holding a cup like a magnolia flower.
1823 J. Rutter Delineations of Fonthill 90 Here and there the beautiful magnolia displayed the exquisite whiteness of its large blossoms.
1856 A. Gray Man. Bot. Northern U.S. (ed. 2) 16 M[agnolia] grandiflora, L., the Great Laurel Magnolia, of the Southern States (a noble tree, remarkable for its deliciously fragrant flowers and thick evergreen leaves).
1880 Libr. Universal Knowl. VI. 65 There are [in Florida] splendid flowering magnolias,..palmette, mangrove, torchwood.
1904 R. J. Farrer Garden of Asia 18 There are cherries, plums, chimonanthus, magnolia.
1934 G. E. Shankle State Names ii. 127 The Magnolia State is given as a nickname to Mississippi because of the great number of magnolia trees growing within the State.
1949 Times-Picayune (New Orleans) 13 Feb. 11/1 Over this, the inner walls, which are to be made of cherry, walnut or black magnolia paneling, will be placed.
1983 W. Byron tr. A. Le Vot F. Scott Fitzgerald xx. 337 There was a broad lawn, with giant magnolia trees and a rose garden.
1990 Gardening from Which? July 237/1 Magnolias are particularly popular as specimen plants.
b. A flower of a magnolia tree.
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1822 S. Ward Diary 17 July in G. F. Dow Holyoke Diaries (1911) 177 We all went to Manchester to get Magnolias.
1874 B. F. Taylor World on Wheels 131 A barefoot girl approaches you with flowers to sell—fragrant Magnolias.
1900 Official Jrnl. Proc. House of Representatives Louisiana 12 July 514/2 I have the honor to inform you that I have this day approved..an act to designate the magnolia as the State Flower.
1949 Parade 18 Sept. 14/3 Framed by magnolia, any little girl is lovely.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > medicinal trees or shrubs > [noun] > medicinal barks > other medicinal barks
oak bark1579
cascarilla1686
false Winter's bark1722
malambo bark1816
matias bark1840
sweetwood bark1846
magnolia1857
cascara sagrada1879
cuprea bark1884
sacred bark1891
1857 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (1860) Magnolia, the pharmacopœial name (U.S.A.) for the bark of several species of Magnolia.
2. The colour of magnolia blossom, usually a shade of off-white.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [adjective] > pale red or pink
incarnatea1533
fleshy1555
incarnation1562
pallet1565
peach1583
bepurfurate1584
blush1597
carnation1598
peachy1599
peach-coloured1600
pink-coloured1600
incarnadine1605
pink1607
blush-coloured1626
blushy1626
gridelin1652
carnationeda1658
pinky1661
carneous1673
peach blossom1702
flesh-coloured1703
flesh-colour1711
mushroom-coloured1770
salmon-coloured1776
pinkish1785
salmon1786
blush-tinted1818
flesh-red1819
naturelle1873
flesh-pink1882
lilac-pink1882
pinksome1913
nude1922
magnolia-pink1931
salmony1935
magnolia1963
the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [noun] > shades of red > pale red or pink
incarnationa1475
carnation?1533
peach colour1573
maiden's blush1598
maiden blush1600
flesh-colour1611
gridelinc1640
incarnadine1661
pinka1669
peach bloom1716
pompadour1761
rose pink1772
salmon-colour1813
orange-pink1820
peachiness1820
maiden rose1827
pinkiness1828
peach-blow1829
peach1831
pink madder1835
flesh-tint1839
pinkness1840
rose du Barry1847
flesh1852
almond1872
ash of roses1872
nymph-pink1872
rose Pompadour1872
salmon1873
pinkishness1874
mushroom1884
salmon-pink1884
naturelle1887
shell-pink1887
sunrise1890
sultan pink1899
mushroom colour1900
sunblush1925
flesh tone1931
magnolia1963
1963 Times 25 Apr. 6/6 For her wedding yesterday Princess Alexandra chose..a traditional dress..fine cotton lace..faintly tinted with magnolia.
1971 R. Fuller in Listener 28 Oct. 583/1 My study has been repainted ‘Magnolia’... Magnolia shows bright enough, if really Only off-white.
1999 S. Hosking & L. Haggard Healing Hospital Environm. vi. 119/1 The most popular paint colour bought for interior decoration is magnolia. This was once called cream.
2007 L. Norman Decorate your Home with Colour i. 15 You can create a strong colour impression even if your walls are off white or magnolia.
B. adj.
Of the colour of magnolia blossom.
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1941 W. A. Percy Lanterns on Levee vi. 56 The heroine's beauty—raven hair, magnolia skin, purple eyes.
1974 ‘S. Harvester’ Forgotten Road xii. 137 The pale blue cotton shirt had been replaced by one of a droopy magnolia tint.
1990 D. McCullin Unreasonable Behaviour viii. 46 I put up some wallpaper and magnolia gloss, which I thought took Fonthill Road upmarket a bit.
1999 S. Hosking & L. Haggard Healing Hospital Environm. iv. 64/2 The walls are battered magnolia paint, the old curtains are falling off their rail.
2011 A. Armitage Both Sides of Sheets vii. 236 Our flat had been freshly painted throughout with magnolia emulsion.
Compounds
C1. Similative.
magnolia-pink adj.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [adjective] > pale red or pink
incarnatea1533
fleshy1555
incarnation1562
pallet1565
peach1583
bepurfurate1584
blush1597
carnation1598
peachy1599
peach-coloured1600
pink-coloured1600
incarnadine1605
pink1607
blush-coloured1626
blushy1626
gridelin1652
carnationeda1658
pinky1661
carneous1673
peach blossom1702
flesh-coloured1703
flesh-colour1711
mushroom-coloured1770
salmon-coloured1776
pinkish1785
salmon1786
blush-tinted1818
flesh-red1819
naturelle1873
flesh-pink1882
lilac-pink1882
pinksome1913
nude1922
magnolia-pink1931
salmony1935
magnolia1963
1931 Daily Chron. 21 May 6/1 A gown of pale magnolia-pink satin.
2007 Daily Mail 28 Apr. 92 The first apples, such as Gravenstein which has magnolia-pink flowers, start in mid-April.
C2. Instrumental.
magnolia-covered adj.
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1897 B. Pullen-Burry Blotted Out 11 Mrs. Aylesbury's magnolia-covered house.
1990 Boston Globe 22 July b19/4 A magnolia-covered mansion built atop a graveyard.
magnolia-scented adj.
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1959 L. Hughes Weary Blues 54 The magnolia-scented south.
1994 Mail on Sunday 28 Aug. (Night & Day Review Suppl.) 35/1 The refined traditions..of a graceful, magnolia-scented Southern city.
C3.
magnolia-painted adj. of a wall, room, etc.: that has been painted in magnolia, esp. a shade of off-white (sense B.).Sometimes suggestive of neutrality or blandness (chiefly British).
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1977 Illustr. London News Apr. 83/1 The dining room..with magnolia-painted walls and red velvet curtains, is a charming place in which to eat.
1994 E. Oldfield Love's Prisoner i. 14 A functional but comfortable magnolia-painted room.
2013 M. Reynolds World was all before Them 20 Every home boasted magnolia-painted walls, recessed down-lighting,..and a multi-point security system to the front door.
Magnolia State n. U.S. (a nickname for) the State of Mississippi, the emblem of which is the magnolia flower.
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the world > the earth > named regions of earth > America > North America > [noun] > United States > specific states > Mississippi
Magnolia State1934
the Sip1969
1934 G. E. Shankle State Names ii. 127 The Magnolia State is given as a nickname to Mississippi because of the great number of magnolia trees growing within the State.
1951 Amer. Hist. Rev. 57 33 Standing for district attorney in the Magnolia State in 1835, Davis was informed that his opponent was ‘a good fellow, tells a capital story, and plays the fiddle’.
1991 Jrnl. Amer. Hist. 78 748/1 During the civil rights era, Mississippi constituted the epicenter of southern resistance... Signs of genuine progress in the Magnolia State should bode well for the nation as a whole.
magnolia warbler n. [ < scientific Latin Magnolia, genus name, adopted (in the binomial Sylvia magnolia) as a specific name by A. Wilson ( Amer. Ornithol. (1811) III. 63), with reference to the bird's supposed habitat + warbler n.] a North American warbler, Dendroica magnolia (family Parulidae), the male of which is blackish with yellow underparts and rump.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > family Parulidae (wood warbler) > [noun]
black-throat1704
wood-warbler1817
MacGillivray's warbler1839
magnolia warbler1851
sylvicoline1872
1851 S. F. Baird tr. J. G. Heck Iconogr. Encycl. II. Zool. 340 The magnolia warbler (S. maculosa) is a beautiful species, though never venturing far from the woods.
1919 Amer. Midland Naturalist 6 108 Magnolia warbler Dendroica magnolia. One seen and three heard in the woods along Rock Creek.
2000 Canad. Geographic May 42/2 Once in spring, a flock of magnolia warblers flitted in the willows for a fortnight.
Derivatives
magˈnolia-like adj.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental trees and shrubs > [adjective]
jasmined1827
Ghent1841
cistal1847
cucumber1904
magnolia-like1913
magnolioid1972
1913 D. H. Lawrence Love Poems p. xvii The moon Never magnolia-like unfurled Her white, her lamp-like shape.
1994 Times 1 Apr. 22/4 The small tree Michelia Doltsopa with heavily fragrant white magnolia-like flowers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1748