Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🍋 A lemon herb 🌱 A mint plant
field balm

field balm

9.9
A trailing plant like mint with rounded leaves and small purple flowers often grown in hanging baskets
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : gill-over-the-ground
  • The hanging basket was overflowing with lush green leaves and delicate purple flowers of field balm.

Examples

  • The gardener recommended planting field balm near the patio to attract bees and provide a pleasant scent.

  • Many people enjoy the scent of field balm in their homes.

  • In some herbal remedies, field balm is used for its mild medicinal properties.

  • I planted some field balm in my garden last spring.

  • The gardener recommended planting field balm near the patio to attract bees and provide a pleasant scent.

  • In some herbal remedies, field balm is used for its mild medicinal properties.

  • The hanging basket was overflowing with lush green leaves and delicate purple flowers of field balm.

Synonyms

alehoof
vsfield balm
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A trailing European plant in the mint family with round leaves and small purple flowers

uses the more common modern name instead of the older name
gill-over-the-ground
vsfield balm
  • Archaic
9.9

A low plant like mint that spreads across the ground with round leaves and small purple flowers

is the same plant but mentions an alternate common name
ground ivy
vsfield balm
  • UK
7.7

A low green plant that grows along the ground with round leaves and small purple flowers

emphasizes its aroma rather than leaving scent unmentioned
Glechoma hederacea
vsfield balm
  • Specialized
9.9

A low, spreading plant like a small mint with round leaves and purple flowers

focuses on hanging basket cultivation rather than general ornament
Nepeta hederaceae
vsfield balm
  • Specialized
9.9

A trailing mint plant with rounded leaves and small purple flowers often used in hanging baskets

uses common naming and notes an alternate everyday name
runaway robin
vsfield balm
  • UK
9.9

A small plant often grown in hanging baskets with trailing stems, rounded leaves and small purple flowers

focuses on its presence as naturalized in North America instead of being native

Surface Forms

field balm singular
field balms plural

Morphology

field + balm

The compound 'field balm' can be directly understood as a balm-like (aromatic) plant associated with a field: a B1 learner who knows 'field' and 'balm' would infer a plant/herb from fields with soothing/aromatic qualities. This follows a common noun+noun pattern for plant names (e.g. 'lemon balm', 'field ...') and is cross-linguistically plausible, so the meaning is immediately accessible from the constituents.

Etymology

Field balm may be used for a low, spreading plant with soft, scented leaves: balm means a 'pleasant-smelling herb' and field shows it spreads across the ground, so the name fits a ground-cover plant often grown for its scent.