Bot. [L. allium garlic, of unkn. origin.] A large genus of Liliaceous plants, of which garlic, the onion, leek, chive, shallot, and the British wild flower Ramsons are species.
1807. Crabbe, Par. Reg., I. 602. High-sounding words our worthy gardener gets … He Allium calls his onions and his leeks.
1866. Symonds, in Cornh. Mag., Nov., 538. In the shade, grey periwinkles wind among the snowy drift of allium.
