: any of a genus (Wisteria) of mostly woody leguminous vines of China, Japan, and the southeastern U.S. that have pinnately compound leaves and long racemes of showy blue, white, purple, or rose papilionaceous flowers and that include several (such as W. sinensis and W. floribunda) grown as ornamentals
Illustration of wisteria
Examples of wisteria in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebNaturally, given the property’s name, there’s a mature private garden with ancient wisteria trees and a large pond that serves as an ideal spot for wildlife watching.—Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 17 Apr. 2024 Even if dark clouds cover the sky, the purple wisteria and white dogwood blooms will compete with the colorful Easter clothes on worshippers filling up Sunday services in churches big and small throughout Arkansas.—Werner Trieschmann, arkansasonline.com, 31 Mar. 2024 Its extensive landscaping brings the tiered facades to life, factoring in indigenous plants and trees from all over Turkey and other vegetation, such as mushroom oaks, ironwood, stone pines, and Chinese wisteria.—Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 7 Feb. 2024 Whereas most wisteria festivals across Japan kick off around late April, these wisteria tend to bloom later, around early May.—Talia Avakian, Travel + Leisure, 2 Mar. 2024 American Wisteria American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) is another native worth a look.—Steve Bender, Southern Living, 21 Oct. 2023 Awful Weed #1: Wisteria Japanese and Chinese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda and sinensis) are absolutely gorgeous in flower.—Steve Bender, Southern Living, 7 July 2023 Cottage Planted 20 years ago, a lavender-and-cream Japanese wisteria climbs the pergola, flowering every May.—Owen Holmes, House Beautiful, 23 Mar. 2023 While vigorous, American wisteria doesn't grow as aggressively as non-native wisterias.—Rita Pelczar, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Feb. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wisteria.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
New Latin Wisteria, from Caspar Wistar †1818 American physician
: any of a genus of mostly woody vines of China, Japan, and the southeastern U.S. that belong to the legume family and have leaves with numerous leaflets and showy blue, white, purple, or rose flowers in long hanging clusters
Etymology
named for Caspar Wistar 1761–1818 American physician
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