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Pronunciation Guide
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

laurel

/ˈlɔɹ.əl/

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What does laurel mean?

noun

  1. An evergreen shrub of species Laurus nobilis, having aromatic leaves of a lanceolate shape, with clusters of small, yellowish white flowers in their axils.
  2. A crown of laurel.
  3. (figuratively) Honor, distinction, fame.
More meanings (29)

noun

  1. Any plant of the family Lauraceae.
  2. Any of various plants of other families that resemble laurels.
  3. Formerly, a participant aged sixteen or seventeen years old in the Young Women organization of the LDS Church.
  4. (historical) An English gold coin made in 1619, and so called because the king's head on it was crowned with laurel.

verb

  1. To decorate with laurel, especially with a laurel wreath.
  2. To enwreathe.
  3. (informal) To award top honours to.

proper noun

  1. A female or male given name from English from the laurel plant.
  2. A surname from Spanish.
  3. A municipality of the Philippines; named for Miguel Laurel.
  4. A neighbourhood of Edmonton, Alberta.
  5. A ghost town in Santa Cruz County, California.
  6. A neighborhood of Oakland, California.
  7. A town in Sussex County, Delaware; named for the laurel bushes growing in the area.
  8. A census-designated place in Florida.
  9. A town in Indiana; named for the city in Maryland.
  10. A city in Iowa; named for the community in Ohio.
  11. A city in Maryland.
  12. A city in and one of the two county seats of Jones County, Mississippi; named for the laurel thickets in the area.
  13. A city in Montana; named for the laurel bushes growing in the area.
  14. A city in Nebraska; named for early settler Laura Martin.
  15. A hamlet in New York.
  16. An unincorporated community in Ohio.
  17. An unincorporated community in Oregon; named for the trees growing in the area, thought to be laurels (later identified as madrones).
  18. An unincorporated community in Tennessee.
  19. A census-designated place in Virginia.
  20. An unincorporated community in Washington.
  21. An unincorporated community in West Virginia.
  22. A river flowing from Lake, Kentucky into the Cumberland at Corbin, Kentucky.
Wiktionary contributors Wiktionary contributors

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈlɔɹ.əl/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Forests of laurel, rhamnus, and arbutus, divide the ericas from the rising grounds planted with vines and fruit trees.
Alexander von Humboldt; Aimé BonplandPersonal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 1Translated by Thomasina RossProject Gutenberg ebook #6322
“They didn’t go to the house. Here are their marks on the left—here, beside the laurel bushes. Ah! I said so.”
Arthur Conan DoyleThe Return of Sherlock HolmesProject Gutenberg ebook #108
More book examples (3)
The garden sloping to the road, the house standing in it, the green pales and the laurel hedge, everything declared they were arriving.
Jane AustenPride and PrejudiceProject Gutenberg ebook #1342
The laurel and the shrub, the vine and sweet scented jessamine, roofed his dwelling, and clambered up between his closed eyelids and the stars.
William Gilmore SimmsThe Life of Francis MarionProject Gutenberg ebook #843
How luxurious it felt to rest thus in a strange, quaint bed, with its sweet country odor of laurel lingering about the sheets and mattress!
Kate ChopinThe Awakening, and Selected Short StoriesProject Gutenberg ebook #160