European white lily
- noun
- UK
:
lirio blanco europeo
- The pond was covered in blooming European white lilies during the summer.
Examples
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She planted a European white lily in her garden because of its striking beauty.
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The European white lily is known for its large white flowers that float on the water.
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In traditional folklore, the European white lily symbolizes purity and innocence.
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The European white lily blooms beautifully in spring.
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I saw a European white lily in the pond yesterday.
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The pond was covered in blooming European white lilies during the summer.
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She planted a European white lily in her garden because of its striking beauty.
Synonyms
4
1.9
A plant that floats on water with large round leaves and pretty white, pink, or yellow flowers
1
3.5
A plant with large white flowers that often grows in water
A water lily with fragrant white flowers that grows in lakes and ponds in Europe and nearby Africa and Asia
A water plant with big floating leaves and sweet smelling flowers
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is fully compositional: 'European' denotes origin, 'white' denotes color, and 'lily' names the plant, so the combined meaning (a white lily from Europe) is directly derivable from the constituents. This straightforward adjective + noun structure is cross-linguistically common and would be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows the individual words.
Etymology
European white lily is a name that describes the flower: European shows where it comes from, white its color, and lily the type of plant that floats on ponds. In old stories people used this bright white flower as a sign of 'purity' and 'innocence', so the name also brings those ideas to mind today.