Hooker's onion
1
8.8
- noun
- /ˈhʊkərz ˈʌnjən/
- Specialized
:
cebolla de Hooker
- Attractions on Enderby Island include Hooker's sea lions, royal albatrosses, yellow-eyed penguins, Auckland Island shags, dotterels, and teals.
Examples
-
Wildlife enthusiasts often seek out Hooker's onion for its distinct aroma and beautiful blossoms.
-
In the spring, the fields were filled with Hooker's onion, showcasing clusters of pink flowers.
-
I have been seen around Clarence Hooker's place and killed a hound up at Carter's.
Fiction book (1995) -
While hiking in the mountains, we came across patches of Hooker's onion blooming along the trail.
Synonyms
A North American wild onion with a strong onion smell and pink flowers on a leafless stem
Surface Forms
Morphology
Hooker's + onion
The head noun 'onion' clearly gives the basic meaning (a type of onion), and the possessive form 'Hooker's' signals a named variety or association; even if a learner doesn't know the proper name Hooker, the construction 'X's onion' is transparently interpretable as 'an onion related to X'. The phrase therefore conveys a straightforward compositional meaning (a particular kind/species of onion) rather than an idiomatic sense.
Etymology
Hooker's onion comes from a plant scientist named Hooker who studied wild plants. People added his name to this wild onion with pink flowers and a strong smell, so the name means 'the onion named after Hooker' and helps people identify this species.