African lily
- noun
- South African
:
lirio africano
- The African lily is prized for its striking and colorful blooms in summer gardens.
Examples
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She bought an African lily to add vibrant color to her yard.
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Several African lily plants lined the pathway of the botanical garden.
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The African lily blooms in the summer.
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I saw beautiful African lilies in the garden.
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Several African lily plants lined the pathway of the botanical garden.
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She bought an African lily to add vibrant color to her yard.
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The African lily is prized for its striking and colorful blooms in summer gardens.
Synonyms
A South African plant with long green leaves and round groups of deep blue flowers
A plant with bright green leaves and clusters of deep blue flowers often grown in gardens
A garden plant with round groups of blue or purple flowers
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: the adjective 'African' specifies origin or association and 'lily' names the flower, so a learner can infer 'a lily from Africa'. This straightforward adjective+noun pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows basic English noun modification, making it immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
African lily gets its name from two simple ideas: African because the plant is 'from Africa', and lily because its round clusters of big, bright flowers look 'like lilies'. That's why the name helps you remember it is a colorful plant known for its showy blooms.
