Venus's shoe

9.9

An orchid with a pouch-shaped flower like a slipper

noun
/ˈviːnəsɪz ʃuː/

: zapato de Venus

The Venus's shoe orchid is prized by collectors for its unique pouch-shaped blossom.

Examples

Her garden features several rare Venus's shoe orchids alongside other exotic plants.
Botanists discovered a new species of Venus's shoe in the rainforests of Southeast Asia.
Look at this Venus's shoe!
My Venus's shoe is blooming.
Botanists discovered a new species of Venus's shoe in the rainforests of Southeast Asia.
The Venus's shoe orchid is prized by collectors for its unique pouch-shaped blossom.
Her garden features several rare Venus's shoe orchids alongside other exotic plants.

Synonyms

Paphiopedilum

vsVenus's shoe

Specialized

1 9.9

An orchid from Southeast Asia with a showy slipper-shaped flower

refers to individual plants of that genus rather than the genus name

slipper orchid

vsVenus's shoe

1 9.2

A wild orchid with a pouch-shaped lower petal that is hard to grow in gardens

covers the general species in many regions and ignores cultivation difficulty

Venus' slipper

vsVenus's shoe

9.9

A kind of orchid with a pouch-shaped lower petal

has identical meaning but uses a different common naming form

Venus's slipper

vsVenus's shoe

9.9

A kind of orchid with a pouch-shaped waxy flower

stresses slender stems and whole plant likeness rather than only flowers

Surface Forms

Venus's shoe singular

Venus's shoes plural

Morphology

Venus's + shoe

The phrase combines 'Venus's' (a mythological/beauty cue) with 'shoe', so learners can infer a slipper-like or decorative object and get a shape/metaphorical hint. However, the specific meaning 'a type of orchid' cannot be predicted from the constituents alone and requires lexical/cultural knowledge, so the relation is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Venus's shoe may come from the flower's pouch, which looks like a small shoe or 'slipper' for the goddess Venus. That's why Venus's shoe is used for an orchid with a pouch-shaped flower.