lily

The lily is best known as a large, often sweet-smelling flower with wide petals and a graceful shape. People grow it in gardens, give it in bouquets, and use it at holidays, weddings, and funerals. It often suggests purity, innocence, peace, sympathy, or new life, especially in the case of the white Easter lily.

The word also appears outside the garden. "Lily" can be a girl's name, and it can describe a very pale white color in phrases like "lily-white." In older English, "lily-livered" means cowardly. Also, some plants called lilies are dangerous to cats, so the word can come up in pet safety too.

The lily is a flowering plant known for its large, striking blooms, long stems, and often sweet fragrance. True lilies belong to the genus Lilium, but in everyday English the word is also used more loosely for other plants with similar flowers or names, such as daylilies and water lilies. In ordinary use, though, most people simply mean a graceful garden or cut flower.

Lilies come in many colors, including white, pink, orange, yellow, and red. They are common in gardens, floral displays, and special events. White kinds are especially linked with purity, innocence, peace, sympathy, and rebirth, which is why lilies are often seen at Easter, weddings, and funerals. Because of these associations, the flower carries both joyful and solemn feelings depending on the setting.

The word also has uses beyond botany. "Lily" is a common female given name. "Lily-white" can mean very white or pale, and sometimes it is used more figuratively to suggest spotless moral purity. The older idiom "lily-livered" means cowardly. In symbols and art, the stylized fleur-de-lis is traditionally linked with the lily, especially in French heraldry.

There is also a practical side to the word. Many plants called lilies, especially true lilies, are highly toxic to cats; even a small amount of pollen or vase water can be dangerous. So whether the word appears in a garden catalog, a poem, a name list, or a warning from a vet, it usually brings to mind beauty, whiteness, symbolism, and a flower that has held an important place in English for a long time.