lilac vs violet

lilac

adj
  • Having a pale purple colour. 

noun
  • A flower of the lilac shrub. 

  • A pale purple color, the color of some lilac flowers. 

  • A large shrub of the genus Syringa, especially Syringa vulgaris, bearing white, pale-pink, or purple flowers. 

violet

adj
  • Having a bluish-purple colour. 

noun
  • A person thought to resemble V. odorata, especially in its beauty and delicacy. 

  • Synonym of onion. 

  • A plant or flower of the genus Viola, especially the fragrant Viola odorata; (inexact) similar-looking plants and flowers. 

  • Clothes and (ecclesiastical) vestments of such a colour. 

  • The characteristic scent of V. odorata. 

  • A bluish-purple colour resembling that of most V. odorata. 

How often have the words lilac and violet occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )