black-eyed Susan
1
7.2
- noun
- /ˈblækˌaɪd ˈsuːzən/
:
susana de ojos negros
- She planted black-eyed Susans along the fence to add color and attract butterflies.
- black-eyed Susan
Examples
-
She kicked again, and the horse's legs began churning through the oat grass until the black-eyed Susans blurred into streaks of yellow.
Fiction book (1995) -
I plan to eat them alongside a dollop of ketchup and half a cup of black-eyed peas.
Blog text (3) -
In the garden, the black-eyed Susan stands out with its bright yellow petals and dark center.
-
At the botanical exhibit, visitors admired the beautiful black-eyed Susans blooming in various sizes.
Synonyms
A climbing plant from tropical Africa with yellow flowers that have a dark purple center
A climbing plant from Africa with yellow flowers and a dark purple centre used to decorate gardens
Surface Forms
Morphology
black-eyed + Susan
The modifier 'black-eyed' transparently indicates an object with a dark (black) eye/center, so a learner who knows 'black' and 'eye' can infer the visual property. However, 'Susan' is an arbitrary personal name used in the conventional name of a flower and does not itself signal 'plant' or 'flower', so the exact lexicalization (that this is the name of a specific plant) is not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Black-eyed Susan may come from the flower's look: the yellow petals and dark purple center make the bloom seem black-eyed, and people added the common name Susan to make it easy to remember. That's why the name fits this tropical climbing plant with a dark center.