American hackberry

8.2

A large tree with small purple berries often planted along streets for shade

noun
/əˈmɛrɪkən ˈhækbəri/

: celtis americana

In late summer, the American hackberry produces deep purple berries that attract various birds.

Examples

The American hackberry is often planted along city streets because it is highly tolerant of pollution.
The leaves of the American hackberry turn yellow in the fall, adding color to the landscape.
Birds are attracted to the American hackberry because of its abundance of small purple berries.
The American hackberry is a beautiful tree.
Many American hackberries grow in Texas.
The American hackberry provides excellent shade during the hot summer months.
As a native tree, the American hackberry thrives in the southern United States' climate.

Synonyms

Celtis occidentalis

vsAmerican hackberry

Specialized

9.9

A large North American tree called hackberry that loses its leaves and has small dark purple berries

is more specific to the southern United States and noted for shade use

Surface Forms

hackberry singular

hackberries plural

Morphology

American + hackberry

This is a straightforward adjective + noun composition where 'American' specifies the origin/type of the noun 'hackberry', so a learner who knows both words will infer it is a hackberry tree from (or associated with) America. Such provenance-based species naming is a common, compositional pattern across languages and therefore immediately interpretable by learners who know the constituents.

Etymology

American hackberry probably gets its name from the small, rough purple fruits the tree makes, which people call hackberries. Because the tree is common in the United States and is known for those berries and its strong shade, the name came to mean 'a large American tree with small purple berries'.