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Glite Dictionary
🔵 A blue flower ⚪ A white bulb plant
sea onion

sea onion

9.9
A tall Mediterranean plant with dense white flower spikes and a bulb used in medicine
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : cebolla marina
  • The bulb of the sea onion has been used in herbal remedies for centuries.

Examples

  • Gardeners admired the tall white flower spikes of the sea onion blooming in the summer.

  • Scientists are studying the sea onion for its potential medicinal properties.

  • The sea onion blooms beautifully in the spring.

  • Many people use sea onions for their medicinal properties.

  • Gardeners admired the tall white flower spikes of the sea onion blooming in the summer.

  • Scientists are studying the sea onion for its potential medicinal properties.

  • The bulb of the sea onion has been used in herbal remedies for centuries.

Synonyms

squill
vssea onion
1 9.9

A plant that grows from a bulb with narrow leaves and long stems of white, blue or pink flowers

is the more specific Mediterranean plant with dense white spikes and medicinal bulb
sea squill
vssea onion
  • UK
9.9

A Mediterranean plant with tall spikes of small white flowers and a bulb used as medicine

is the same plant but named differently in common usage
Urginea maritima
vssea onion
  • Specialized
9.9

A Mediterranean plant with tall stalks, white flower spikes, and a large bulb used in medicine

is the same species referred to by a scientific name

Surface Forms

sea onion singular
sea onions plural

Morphology

sea + onion

The meaning — a bulbous plant associated with the sea — is directly and compositionally derivable from 'sea' (relating to the sea) + 'onion' (a bulbous plant), so a B1 learner who knows both words can reasonably infer it denotes an onion-like plant found by/ in the sea. This noun+noun compound is a common, productive pattern cross-linguistically, making the name transparent rather than idiomatic or metaphorically shifted.

Etymology

Sea onion gets its name from a large, round onion-like 'bulb' that grows on coastal plants and was used by people as a 'remedy'. That's why the name links the sea and the onion and is used for the medicinal plant.