wild lily of the valley
- noun
- /waɪld ˈlɪli əv ðə ˈvæli/
- US
:
muguete
- The wild lily of the valley thrives in shady North American forests and is known for its delicate, bell-shaped flowers.
Examples
-
Unlike true lilies, the wild lily of the valley blooms with pinkish bells in the spring.
-
Early settlers sometimes used the leaves of wild lily of the valley as a remedy for bruises.
-
The wild lily of the valley blooms beautifully in spring.
-
Have you ever seen a wild lily of the valley in the forest?
-
The wild lily of the valley is often found growing in damp, wooded areas across North America.
-
In spring, the wild lily of the valley produces charming pinkish bell-shaped flowers that attract bees.
-
Many people admire the wild lily of the valley for its lush green leaves and fragrant blossoms in the undergrowth.
Synonyms
A small evergreen plant with long oval leaves and pink bell-shaped flowers
An evergreen plant with small pink bell flowers and long leaves that people used to treat shin wounds
Surface Forms
Morphology
wild + lily + of + the + valley
The phrase is fully compositional: 'lily of the valley' names a particular type of lily and the adjective 'wild' simply indicates it grows untamed, so a learner who knows 'wild', 'lily' and 'valley' can infer it is a wild-growing lily. The adjective + noun structure and literal meanings follow normal English composition patterns (and similar patterns cross-linguistically), making the meaning directly derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Wild lily of the valley was also used in North America for a similar wild plant with oval leaves and small pink bell flowers, and people named it by the same picture: wild for growing in the woods, lily for the bell-shaped blooms, and valley for the shady places it prefers. So the name came to mean this local evergreen that early settlers sometimes used for simple remedies and small household uses.
