Standard Lemma guide

catalpa

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /kəˈtælpə/
  • General-American: /kəˈtælpə/
  • General-American: /kəˈtɔlpə/
  • cot-caught-merger: /kəˈtælpə/
  • cot-caught-merger: /kəˈtɑlpə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ælpə
  • rhymes with -ɔːlpə

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any tree of the genus Catalpa, in the family Bignoniaceae. The two North American species, the southern catalpa, Catalpa bignonioides, and the northern catalpa, Catalpa speciosa — along with the yellow catalpa, Catalpa ovata, from China — are often planted as ornamentals because of their showy flowers and decorative bean pods, though others regard the bean pods as a nuisance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

tree of the genus Catalpa with large leaves and white flowers followed by long slender pods

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Indian bean

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: bean tree

Narrower terms: Catalpa bignioides, Catalpa speciosa

History

Etymology

* A variant of catawba that originated when Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, the describing botanist, incorrectly transcribed the name. * Sometimes alternatively said to derive from Creek kvtvrpv.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: catalpa — any tree of the genus Catalpa
  • French: catalpa — any tree of the genus Catalpa
  • German: Trompetenbaum — any tree of the genus Catalpa
  • Hungarian: szivarfa — any tree of the genus Catalpa
  • Korean: 개오동 (gae'odong) — any tree of the genus Catalpa
  • Portuguese: catalpa — any tree of the genus Catalpa
  • Russian: катальпа (katalʹpa) — any tree of the genus Catalpa
  • Turkish: katalpa — any tree of the genus Catalpa