Canterbury bell
- noun
:
campanilla de Canterbury
- Only last year, he tried Campanula medium, commonly known as Canterbury bells, biennials that germinate the first year, flower the second year, set seed, and die.
Examples
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The garden was filled with vibrant Canterbury bells that brightened up the flower beds.
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They stood, separated only by the small stalks of Canterbury bells.
Fiction book (1995) -
They decided to plant Canterbury bells in their backyard to attract more butterflies.
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In spring, the Canterbury bells bloom beautifully, displaying their large, colorful flowers.
Synonyms
A garden plant that usually lives two years with bell-shaped blue, violet, or white flowers, also called Canterbury bell
A garden flower with bell-shaped blue, purple, or white blooms
How Showy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The name combines a place name 'Canterbury' with 'bell' (a bell-shaped object); a B1 learner who knows 'bell' can infer the phrase refers to something bell-shaped, and in the botanical naming pattern the place name signals origin or variety. This noun-noun composition is a straightforward descriptive label for a plant with bell-shaped flowers, so the overall meaning is derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
Canterbury bell takes its name from the city of Canterbury and the flower's bell shape. People thought the blooms looked like the church bells of Canterbury, so the name now means 'a garden plant with showy, bell-shaped flowers'.