sweet elder
- noun
- /swit ˈɛldər/
- US
:
saúco
- The sweet elder is prized for its berries, often used to make homemade wine.
Examples
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Jellies made from sweet elder have a rich, distinctive flavor.
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We made wine from the sweet elder berries.
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Farmers planted sweet elder along the fence row to harvest its fruit every summer.
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The sweet elder produces delicious berries.
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Farmers planted sweet elder along the fence row to harvest its fruit every summer.
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The sweet elder is prized for its berries, often used to make homemade wine.
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Jellies made from sweet elder have a rich, distinctive flavor.
Synonyms
A North American bush that makes dark purple berries used to make wine and jam
A shrub with clusters of dark purple berries used to make wine and jam
A shrub with clusters of dark purple berries used to make jam, syrup or wine
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is a straightforward adjective + noun composition: 'sweet' describes a quality of the 'elder' shrub (i.e., an elder with sweet-tasting berries). A B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer it denotes a type of elder plant with sweet fruit, and this compositional pattern is common across languages.
Etymology
Sweet elder is a compound name for a plant: elder is the old word for the shrub that makes dark berries, and the word 'sweet' points to the tasty fruit used in cooking. That's why sweet elder means a berry-bearing shrub often used to make 'jelly' and 'wine'.
