Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several climbing woody vines of the genus Wisteria in the pea family, having pinnately compound leaves and drooping racemes of showy purplish or white flowers.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Same as wistaria.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of several woody climbing vines, of the genus Wisteria, native to the East Asian countries of China, Korea, and Japan and the eastern United States.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any flowering vine of the genus Wisteria

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin Wisteria, genus name, after Caspar Wistar, (1761–1818), American physician.]

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Examples

  • The manicured roses in their beds by the white picket fence were showing lips of pink on their buds, and the wisteria was a cascade of lavender.

    Corpse in the Camera Crayne, J. D. 2003

  • The wisteria is another flower which is cultivated in great quantities in Japan.

    Games For All Occasions Mary E. Blain

  • Over by the gate the spirea had ventured into showering sprays exhaling a shy and fugitive fragrance, and what had been a blur of gray cables strung upon the oaks had begun to bud with emerald and blossom with amethyst -- the wisteria was a-borning.

    Slippy McGee, Sometimes Known as the Butterfly Man Marie Conway Oemler 1905

  • Fuji (藤): A wisteria, which is an important pattern used on kimono or to decorate the stage.

    Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] 2009

  • Copper is not only a fine investment, but it withstands the often-considerable stress climbing and vining plants such as wisteria can place on supporting structures.

    SENSIBLE ELEGANCE Pooky 2008

  • Copper is not only a fine investment, but it withstands the often-considerable stress climbing and vining plants such as wisteria can place on supporting structures.

    Archive 2008-02-01 Pooky 2008

  • Our revolution already has some leguminous plants that have also been tested recently, such as wisteria and leucaena, to give two examples.

    Castro Delivers Speech on ANAP Anniversary 1991

  • Some, such as wisteria, are downright rampant and should not be selected unless you're willing to do what it takes to manage them.

    thetowntalk.com - 2009

  • I have office stationery from the South Tower that landed in my wisteria boxes.

    Anne Vitiello: When Crisis Deepens the Divide Anne Vitiello 2011

  • I have office stationery from the South Tower that landed in my wisteria boxes.

    Anne Vitiello: When Crisis Deepens the Divide Anne Vitiello 2011

Comments

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  • A black sheep boy dissolves

    In hot cream, in sweet moans

    In each dead bed and empty home

    In each seething bacterium

    Killing softly and serial

    He lifts his head, handsome, horned, magisterial

    He's the smell of the moonlight wisteria

    He's the thrill of the abecedarian

    (See the muddy hoofprints where he carried you?)

    -Okkervil River

    January 21, 2007

  • This may be one of the best scents on Earth.

    August 21, 2007

  • Along with the scent of the plumeria blossom (frangipani).

    I also like Alyssum and Jacaranda as olfactory charmers...

    August 22, 2007

  • the color of purple

    September 15, 2011