Laurel

How to spell laurel

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce laurel

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does laurel mean?

1. nounAn evergreen shrub or small tree with smooth, glossy, aromatic leaves.
2. nounA mark of honour, success, or distinction, often awarded for achievement.

Laurel in a sentence

• A dense laurel hedge screened the garden from the road.

• The prize added another laurel to her long career.

• She clipped a sprig of laurel for the slow-cooked stew.

• Winning the contract was a hard-earned laurel for the small firm.

Where does laurel come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin laurus, the name of the bay tree whose glossy leaves were woven into wreaths to crown victorious generals, poets, and athletes in the ancient world. Latin laurus passed into Old French as lorier and later laurier, and Middle English borrowed it during the 1300s, eventually settling on the form laurel. Because the leaves crowned the triumphant, the word picked up the figurative sense of honour and distinction, which survives in expressions about resting on one's laurels. The same root lies behind the name Laura and the title 'poet laureate', literally a poet crowned with laurel. The spelling trap is the unstressed second syllable: the 'au' is easy to mishear, and the ending sounds like '-rul' yet is written '-rel'.

How the word is built

• laur- (from Latin laurus: the bay tree)
• -el (noun ending via French)