sea cole
- noun
- Archaic
:
cole marina
- The leaves of sea cole were once commonly gathered and cooked as a vegetable along European coasts.
Examples
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In spring, sea cole produces delicate white flowers atop sturdy stems on the shoreline.
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Botanists study sea cole because it thrives in salty, sandy environments near the sea.
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The sea cole grows abundantly along the coast.
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We found some sea coles while walking on the beach.
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In spring, sea cole produces delicate white flowers atop sturdy stems on the shoreline.
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The leaves of sea cole were once commonly gathered and cooked as a vegetable along European coasts.
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Botanists study sea cole because it thrives in salty, sandy environments near the sea.
Synonyms
A coastal plant with thick blue-green leaves and edible shoots
A coastal plant with large fleshy blue-green leaves and white flowers often eaten as a vegetable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'sea cole' is directly compositional: 'sea' specifies the coastal habitat and 'cole' names a cabbage-like plant, so the combined meaning 'a cole that grows by the sea' is predictable from the parts. This locational noun+noun compounding is a common, cross-linguistically transparent pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Sea cole comes from the word sea and the old word cole, which meant 'cabbage'. People thought of it as a cabbage that grew on the shore and often cooked its leaves, so the name shows it is a plant people ate from the coast.
