African violet
1
4.3
- noun
- /ˈæfrɪkən ˈvaɪəlɪt/
- South African
:
violeta africana
- My grandmother has several beautiful African violets on her windowsill that bloom throughout the year.
- African violets on the windowsill
- purple African violets
- African violets bloomed
We have just this one last African Violet to re pot.
- We have just this one last African Violet to re pot.
Examples
-
African violets come in three colors: white, purple, and pink.
Fiction book (1990) -
"And there are African violets in every room."
Fiction book (1998) -
We have just this one last African Violet to re pot.
-
We have three African violets that don't look great.
-
On the windowsill were African violets.
Fiction book (1998) -
When I visited Carol Shields in May 2003, I purchased a luxuriant African violet.
Academic text (2013) -
And I had three small, droopy African violet plants set up at the end in separate small clay pots that I was growing for science as an experiment in three different soils.
Fiction book (1995) -
I'll just have to content myself with my indoor African violet this winter (that thing has lasted for years and years, no matter how much I neglect it!)
Blog text (16) -
Now Ling's eyes went to a row of African violets on a low windowsill - pink ones, white ones, purple ones - all blooming!
Fiction book (2002) -
The florist recommended new soil for my African violet to help it thrive and produce more flowers.
Synonyms
A small African houseplant with violet, white, or pink flowers
A small houseplant with round leaves and purple flowers
How Resilient
4
4.9
1
3.6
- South African
1
4.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'African' (from Africa) + 'violet' (a small flowering plant) yields a violet species associated with Africa, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes a type of plant. This follows a common adjective+noun compound pattern found cross-linguistically, making it immediately understandable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
African violet comes from the plant's look and origin: people named it African because it comes from Africa and violet for its violet-colored flowers. That's why today African violet means 'a small houseplant with violet, white, or pink flowers'.