Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Indigofera anil

Indigofera anil

9.9
A shrub from the West Indies and South America that people grow for indigo dye
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : Indigofera anil
  • The leaves of Indigofera anil are harvested to produce natural indigo dye.

Examples

  • Traditional textile makers value Indigofera anil for its rich color extract.

  • Farmers in Brazil often cultivate Indigofera anil for dye production.

  • Botanists studied the growth habits of Indigofera anil in its native environment.

  • The Indigofera anil plant thrives in tropical climates.

  • Farmers in Brazil often cultivate Indigofera anil for dye production.

  • The leaves of Indigofera anil are harvested to produce natural indigo dye.

  • Traditional textile makers value Indigofera anil for its rich color extract.

Synonyms

anil
vsIndigofera anil
9.9

A bush that people grow to make blue dye

is the same shrub but given a different name form
Indigofera suffruticosa
vsIndigofera anil
  • Specialized
9.9

A shrub from the West Indies and South America grown for its leaves to make indigo dye

is the same shrub but presented as a different name

Surface Forms

Indigofera anil singular
Indigofera anils plural

Morphology

Indigofera + anil

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from the constituents: 'Indigofera' denotes dye-producing shrubs and 'anil' denotes the West Indian indigo shrub, so together they indicate the shrub used for indigo dye. Botanical binomial-like naming is compositional and cross-linguistically recognizable, so a learner who knows both words can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Indigofera anil may come from Indigofera, meaning 'plant that makes indigo', and anil, an old word for the blue dye 'indigo'. So the name shows the shrub is used to make 'indigo' dye.