coffee senna
- noun
- /ˈkɔfi ˈsɛnə/
:
sena café
- The seeds of coffee senna were once used as a cheap substitute in ground coffee.
Examples
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The coffee senna plant thrives in tropical climates.
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The weedy shrub known as coffee senna can be found throughout tropical regions.
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Botanists debate whether coffee senna belongs to the genus Senna or Cassia.
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Many farmers grow coffee senna for its seeds.
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The seeds of coffee senna were once used as a cheap substitute in ground coffee.
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The weedy shrub known as coffee senna can be found throughout tropical regions.
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Many farmers grow coffee senna for its seeds.
Synonyms
A leafy tropical shrub with a strong bad smell whose seeds are sometimes mixed with coffee
A tropical bush with many leaves that smells unpleasant and whose seeds are sometimes mixed with coffee
A leafy tropical shrub with a strong smell whose seeds are sometimes mixed with coffee
A tropical shrub whose seeds are sometimes roasted and used as fake coffee
A tropical shrub with a strong unpleasant smell
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward noun–noun compound where 'coffee' modifies 'senna', so the phrase denotes a senna plant associated with coffee (e.g., used with or adulterating coffee). A B1 learner who knows both constituent meanings can reliably infer this compositional relation and the general referent.
Etymology
The plant coffee senna got its name because people once roasted its seeds and mixed them into coffee as a cheap substitute. So senna here names the shrub, and the phrase means a plant whose seeds were used 'as a cheap substitute' for coffee.
