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Glite Dictionary
red bay

red bay

8.8
A small tree from the southern United States with reddish wood and aromatic leaves used in cooking
  • noun
  • /rɛd beɪ/
  • US
translation icon : laurel rojo
  • The leaves of the red bay are often used in cooking for their flavor.

Examples

  • Hurricanes have threatened the red bay populations along the Gulf Coast.

  • The red bay tree can grow up to 30 feet tall.

  • The red bay is valued for its beautiful, reddish heartwood.

  • Many people admire the red bay for its beautiful foliage.

  • The carpenter used red bay wood to craft a beautiful set of cabinets.

  • In the garden, the red bay tree stood out with its glossy green leaves and fragrant aroma.

  • The indigenous people utilized the aromatic leaves of the red bay for their traditional medicinal practices.

Synonyms

Persea borbonia
vsred bay
  • Specialized
9.9

A small evergreen tree from the southern United States with leaves that smell and dark red wood

is the common name rather than the formal botanical name

Surface Forms

red bay singular
red bays plural

Morphology

red + bay

The phrase is a simple adjective + noun combination where 'red' describes a property of the 'bay' tree; the meaning (a bay tree with red/dark heartwood and aromatic leaves) is directly reconstructable from the constituents. This kind of descriptive species name follows common cross-linguistic adjective+noun composition and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

The noun red bay comes from the tree's dark red inner wood and its scented 'bay' leaves. People added red to bay to show the wood's colour, so today red bay refers to the 'small tree' with reddish wood and fragrant leaves.