decompound leaf
- noun
- Specialized
:
hoja decompuesta
- In identifying plants, botanists use the presence of a decompound leaf as a key characteristic.
Examples
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Many acacias display a decompound leaf, which helps them conserve water.
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The fern's decompound leaf structure is admired for its intricate beauty.
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The decompound leaf is beautiful.
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Look at this decompound leaf!
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In identifying plants, botanists use the presence of a decompound leaf as a key characteristic.
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Many acacias display a decompound leaf, which helps them conserve water.
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The fern's decompound leaf structure is admired for its intricate beauty.
How Divided
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'decompound' (divided into smaller compound parts) modifies 'leaf' (a plant leaf), so the phrase denotes a leaf with multiple levels of subdivision. Although botanical and somewhat technical, the sense follows transparent morphological logic and would be derivable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Decompound leaf comes from the idea of a compound leaf whose parts are divided again, like a feather made of smaller feathers. So, it means 'a leaf divided into parts that are themselves compound'.
