azalea

noun

aza·​lea ə-ˈzāl-yə 

: any of a subgenus (Azalea) of rhododendrons with funnel-shaped corollas and usually deciduous leaves including many species and hybrid forms cultivated as ornamentals

Examples of azalea in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

To line a garden path or frame a border, select dwarf azaleas and low-growing azaleas. —Luke Miller, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 July 2025

Pruning time for azaleas and camellias is over; continue to prune gardenias and bougainvillea. 49. —Tom MacCubbin, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 June 2025

At the heart is the original water garden, fed by the source of the River Parrett and dotted with mossy bridges, azaleas, and camellias. —Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 26 June 2025

The temperatures are rising, the azaleas are blooming, and summer is just around the corner in the South. —Rebecca Angel Baer, Southern Living, 3 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin Azalea, genus name, borrowed from Greek azaléā, feminine of azaléos "dry, parched, withered," from az-, base of ázō, ázein "to dry out, parch," and in same sense azánesthai, azaínein (perhaps going back to an Indo-European verbal base *h₂ed- "dry up," whence also Hittite ḫāt- "dry up, become parched") + -aleos, adjective suffix, often paired with derivatives based on a nasal consonant

Note: The genus name Azalea was introduced by Linnaeus, first in Systema naturae, 1735. Linnaeus nowhere comments in print on the reason for the name. Hortus Cliffortianus (Amsterdam, 1737), p. 69, contains the note "Nominis rationem vide Fl. lapp. 89 e" ("for the reasoning behind the name see Flora Lapponica 89 e"), but in this paragraph of the plant description in Flora Lapponica (Amsterdam, 1737), Linnaeus simply notes why he rejected the earlier name Chamaerhododendros (it violated his prescriptions against sesquipedalian words and against forming a name by prefixing an existing name). Hence subsequent hypotheses on the choice of the name (as, for example "either from the dry soil in which it flourishes, or from its dry brittle wood" in the Oxford English Dictionary, first edition) are purely speculative. — An earlier Indo-European etymology for Greek ázein saw it as reflecting *as-d-, a "root extension" of *as-, in laryngealist terms *h₁eh₂s-, which also underlay Old Polish and Old Czech ozd "structure for drying malt," Old Czech ozditi "to dry (germinated grain for malt)." See arid and note at ash entry 2.

First Known Use

1755, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for azalea

• mammalia
• regalia
• vidalia
• marginalia
• saturnalia
• terminalia
• paraphernalia
• thalia

Kids Definition

azalea

noun

aza·​lea ə-ˈzāl-yə 

: any of numerous rhododendrons that have funnel-shaped flowers, usually shed their leaves in the fall, and include many grown as ornamental plants