Flanders poppy
- noun
- UK
:
amapola de Flandes
- Every November, people in the UK and Commonwealth wear a Flanders poppy to commemorate fallen soldiers.
Examples
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She planted Flanders poppies in her garden as a tribute to her grandfather, a World War I veteran.
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The fields near Ypres burst into red as the Flanders poppy blooms in summer.
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The Flanders poppy blooms beautifully in the summer.
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Many people wear Flanders poppies on Remembrance Day.
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Every November, people in the UK and Commonwealth wear a Flanders poppy to commemorate fallen soldiers.
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She planted Flanders poppies in her garden as a tribute to her grandfather, a World War I veteran.
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The fields near Ypres burst into red as the Flanders poppy blooms in summer.
Synonyms
A red wild flower that grows in wheat fields
A bright red poppy that grows in fields and gardens
A bright red wild flower that grows in fields of grain in Europe and that people often plant in gardens
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is directly built from 'Flanders' (a place) + 'poppy' (a flower), so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer it refers to a poppy associated with Flanders or originating there. However, the precise species name and especially the culturally specific meaning as a symbol of wartime remembrance are not derivable from the constituents alone, making the full sense partially unpredictable without background knowledge.
Etymology
The Flanders poppy comes from the sight of bright red poppy flowers growing on the battlefields of Flanders after World War I. People saw them where soldiers had died, so the flowers became a simple sign to 'remember' the dead and today people wear a Flanders poppy for 'remembrance'.
