Indian lettuce
- noun
- /ˈɪndiən ˈlɛtɪs/
- US
:
lechuga india
- The leaves of Indian lettuce are mildly flavored and can be added to salads or sandwiches.
Examples
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Native Americans traditionally harvested Indian lettuce as a nutritious wild green in spring.
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Gardeners often grow Indian lettuce for its tender, edible foliage in cool seasons.
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I bought some Indian lettuce at the farmer's market.
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Have you tried Indian lettuce in your salad?
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Gardeners often grow Indian lettuce for its tender, edible foliage in cool seasons.
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The leaves of Indian lettuce are mildly flavored and can be added to salads or sandwiches.
-
Have you tried Indian lettuce in your salad?
Synonyms
1
8.5
A small green plant with soft round leaves that people eat raw in salads
A small herb with fleshy leaves often eaten raw in salads, called miner's lettuce
A small wild plant like lettuce that grows in moist shaded northern woods
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is a straightforward composition: an adjective indicating association plus 'lettuce', so a B1 learner who knows both words will infer it is a type/variety of lettuce. Any slight ambiguity about what 'Indian' specifically refers to (geographic or cultural origin) does not prevent understanding that the expression denotes an edible leafy plant.
Etymology
Indian lettuce likely got its name because Native Americans often ate the plant's soft leaves, so people called it Indian, meaning 'used by Native Americans', and lettuce, meaning an edible salad green. So the name points to a wild, edible green that was eaten like 'lettuce'.