white admiral
- noun
- /waɪt ˈædmərəl/
- US
:
admiral blanco
- We spotted a white admiral in the forest, its white band contrasting with the dark wings.
Examples
-
The white admiral is commonly seen gliding around woodland clearings during summer.
-
Children chased a white admiral as it fluttered through the garden.
-
The white admiral is a stunning butterfly.
-
Have you ever seen a white admiral in the wild?
-
The white admiral butterfly is often spotted resting on tree trunks in the forest.
-
During our hike, we were delighted to see a white admiral with its distinctive markings soaring above the flowers.
-
In the summer, the white admiral can frequently be found near streams and wooded areas.
Synonyms
A North American butterfly with blue-black wings and a wide white band
A North American butterfly with dark blue-black wings and a wide white band
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although 'white' transparently denotes color, 'admiral' here is a conventional name for a group of butterflies rather than the naval rank a B1 learner would know. Because the overall meaning ('a butterfly species') relies on a specialized, lexicalized sense of 'admiral' that is not inferable from the common meanings of the parts, the expression is not predictable from its constituents.
Etymology
White admiral may come from the butterfly's strong look: its dark blue-black wings show a wide white band that people thought looked like an admiral's 'white sash' or stripe. That's why the name now means a butterfly with a bold white band on dark wings.
