Himalayan lilac
- noun
- Indian
:
lila del Himalaya
- The Himalayan lilac is prized in some gardens for its unusual flowers, despite their strong scent.
Examples
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The Himalayan lilac is a sturdy shrub that thrives in the harsh conditions of northern India.
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A Himalayan lilac can grow quite tall and provide dense cover for wildlife in mountainous areas.
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The malodorous blossoms of the Himalayan lilac make it less popular as an ornamental shrub.
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The Himalayan lilac blooms beautifully in spring.
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I saw a Himalayan lilac in the botanical garden.
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With its pale lilac flowers, the Himalayan lilac attracts curious wildlife to the garden.
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Gardeners often plant the Himalayan lilac for its robust structure and ability to adapt to mountainous regions.
Synonyms
26
1.6
A bush with small fragrant purple, pink, or white flowers in large groups
A hardy mountain shrub with narrow leaves and pale lilac or white flowers that smell unpleasant
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines the adjective 'Himalayan' (pertaining to the Himalayas) with the noun 'lilac' (a shrub), so its meaning — a lilac species from or associated with the Himalayas — is directly inferable from the parts. This ADJ+N compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows straightforward English noun-modifier rules, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
Himalayan lilac likely comes from the simple picture of a shrub that grows in the Himalayas and has pale lilac flowers with a strong smell. People used Himalayan to show where it grows and lilac to show the flower colour, so the name now means 'a tall Himalayan shrub with pale, often strongly smelling flowers'.