LAUREL, n. The _laurus_, a vegetable dedicated to Apollo, and formerly defoliated to wreathe the brows of victors and such poets as had influence at court. (_Vide supra._) - Ambrose Bierce
Let arms give place to the robe, and the laurel of the warriors yield to the tongue of the orator. - Cicero
Christ has come into the world to lay out a garden wherein, amid splendor and abundance, there should thrive the violet of humanity, the myrtle of mortification, the rose of love, the lily of virginal souls, the laurel of confessors and the palm of martyrs. - Fr James Groenings
What does "poet laureate" mean? Nothing. It means a person with laurel branches twined around his head. Which is not something people do much now. - Nicholson Baker