European blueberry

2.9

A small dark blue berry that grows wild in European forests

noun

: arándano europeo

She made a tart using freshly picked European blueberries from the forest.

Examples

Unlike the American variety, the European blueberry is smaller and darker in color.
The European blueberry thrives in acidic soils throughout Scandinavia and central Europe.
I love to eat European blueberries in the summer.
The European blueberry is often used in desserts.
She made a tart using freshly picked European blueberries from the forest.
I love to eat European blueberries in the summer.
The European blueberry is often used in desserts.

Synonyms

bilberry

vsEuropean blueberry

1 7.5

A small dark blue berry like a blueberry that grows on a low bush and can be eaten

uses a comparative name linking it to the American species

Vaccinium myrtillus

vsEuropean blueberry

Specialized

9.9

A small European shrub that has edible blue-black berries

focuses on the fruit rather than the whole plant

whinberry

vsEuropean blueberry

Archaic

9.9

A low bush with small dark blue edible berries

is the berry rather than the whole shrub

blaeberry

vsEuropean blueberry

9.9

A small sweet blue-black berry like a blueberry that grows on a low shrub

emphasizes similarity to the American species rather than taste

whortleberry

vsEuropean blueberry

9.9

A blue-black berry you can eat, like a small sour blueberry

is larger and less tart rather than smaller and tarter

Surface Forms

European blueberry singular

European blueberries plural

Morphology

European + blueberry

The meaning is directly compositional: 'European' qualifies 'blueberry' as coming from or native to Europe, so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a blueberry found in Europe (commonly bilberry). This follows normal adjective + noun composition and is cross-linguistically transparent rather than idiomatic.

Etymology

European blueberry comes from the parts European (the place) and blueberry (the fruit), and it names the small, dark wild berry found in Europe that people also call 'bilberry'. Picture a tiny deep-blue berry picked in European forests—this is why the name means the European kind of blueberry.