Meaning

noun dried bark of various magnolias; used in folk medicine

noun any shrub or tree of the genus Magnolia; valued for their longevity and exquisite fragrant blooms

originBorrowed from translingual Magnolia, from French Magnol + -ia. Named after French botanist Pierre Magnol (1638–1715). The surname is a form of the male given name Magne, from Latin magnus, which in turn from Proto-Italic *magnos, from Proto-Indo-European *m̥ǵh₂nós, from *méǵh₂s (“great”). .

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0