canna lily
1
6.1
- noun
- /ˈkænə ˈlɪli/
- During the summer, the canna lily flowers swayed gently in the warm breeze, adding beauty to the landscape.
- canna lilies
Examples
-
They were sitting in Cuca's garden watching the hummingbirds zip in and out among the canna lilies.
Fiction book (1990) -
They were sitting in Cuca's garden watching the hummingbirds zip in and out among the canna lilies.
Fiction book (1990) -
The garden was alive with color as the canna lilies bloomed in shades of red and yellow.
-
In her backyard, she planted several canna lilies to attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
Synonyms
1
7.9
A tall tropical plant with large leaves and bright flowers
A garden plant with large bright yellow to red flowers
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'canna lily' is fully compositional: it denotes a lily-like plant belonging to the canna genus, so both constituents contribute literal, non-idiomatic meaning. Botanical noun + noun naming patterns are cross-linguistically common and predictable, so a B1 learner who knows 'canna' and 'lily' can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Canna lily may come from the old word canna, which meant a 'reed', because the plant has long, reed-like stems and leaves. People also called its big, showy flowers 'lilies', so the name joins canna and lily to picture a reed-like plant with lily-like blooms.