azalea

UK: /əˈzeɪliə/ US: /əˈzeɪljə/ ,(ə zāl′yə)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

a•zal•ea /əˈzeɪlyə/   n. [countable] , pl. -eas. 

1. Plant Biology a shrub of the heath family, with funnel-shaped flower clusters.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

a•zal•ea  (ə zāl′yə), n. 

1. Plant Biology any of numerous shrubs belonging to a particular group (Azalea) of the genus Rhododendron, of the heath family, comprising species with handsome flower clusters of various colors, some of which are familiar in cultivation: the group was formerly the botanical genus Azalea but is now a horticultural classification.

• Greek azaléa, noun, nominal use of feminine of azaléos dry; so named because it grows in dry soil
• Neo-Latin
• 1750–60

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

azalea / əˈzeɪljə/ noun

1. any ericaceous plant of the group Azalea, formerly a separate genus but now included in the genus Rhododendron: cultivated for their showy pink or purple flowers

Etymology: 18th Century: via New Latin from Greek, from azaleos dry; from its supposed preference for a dry situation