: any of a genus (Tulipa) of Eurasian bulbous herbs of the lily family that have linear or broadly lanceolate leaves and are widely grown for their showy flowers
also
: the flower or bulb of a tulip
Examples of tulip in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Wire together faux twigs and vines to form a handle, then add floral water vials to both sides of the basket to hold the tulips and tuck in faux wheatgrass.
—
Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 May 2024
This spring Lady Bamford, who is the founder of Daylesford Organic, a popular British lifestyle brand, hosted various lunches with themes inspired by plants grown on the estate like snowdrops and tulips.
—Plum Sykes, New York Times, 14 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for tulip 
Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 May 2024
This spring Lady Bamford, who is the founder of Daylesford Organic, a popular British lifestyle brand, hosted various lunches with themes inspired by plants grown on the estate like snowdrops and tulips.
—Plum Sykes, New York Times, 14 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for tulip
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tulip.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near tulip
Cite this Entry
“Tulip.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tulip. Accessed 2 Jun. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tulip
noun
tu·lip
ˈt(y)ü-ləp 
: any of a genus of Eurasian herbs that grow from bulbs, have large lance-shaped leaves, are related to the lilies, and are widely grown for their showy cup-shaped flowers
also
: the flower or bulb of a tulip
Etymology
from scientific Latin tulipa "the tulip," from Turkish tülbent "tulip," literally "turban"
Word Origin
We often think of the tulip as a Dutch flower. The Dutch certainly do grow many tulips, but they first got the plant from Turkey. The Turkish word for the tulip was tülbent, meaning literally "turban." Perhaps it was the flower's shape that reminded the Turks of a turban. Or perhaps it was the bright colors and velvety petals. In any case, scientists picking a universal word for the flower chose the scientific Latin tulipa, taken from the Turkish word. The word came into English from the scientific Latin and was spelled tulip.
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share