Painted Desert
- proper noun
- /ˈpeɪntɪd ˈdɛzərt/
:
Desierto Pintado
- U.S. 89 climbs almost two thousand feet from the Painted Desert's parched red sandstone to the pine forests in Sunset Crater's cinder fields.
Examples
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The postcard was of the Painted Desert.
Fiction book (1990) -
It told the reader to look ahead several miles to what became the Painted Desert.
Fiction book (1998) -
♪ ♪ That's the way the Painted Desert got its name
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The results challenge ideas accepted for decades and have spawned new insights into the movements of ancient people, their trade and agriculture, and the origin of the great pueblos that stand at the edge of the harsh Painted Desert.
Academic text (2004) -
Pat Jenks, a hundred-year-old man, animatedly describes hosting Everett after finding him dehydrated, walking on the side of the road near the Painted Desert in Arizona.
Blog text (22) -
Visitors flock to the Painted Desert to marvel at its stunning rock formations and vibrant colors.
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The breathtaking views of the Painted Desert often inspire artists and photographers.
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While driving through Arizona, we stopped to take pictures of the colorful landscape of the Painted Desert.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The place name is compositionally built from 'painted' (marked with colors) + 'desert' (dry region), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a desert with colorful or streaked rock formations. Although it is a proper name, the meaning is literal and follows straightforward English compounding, making it readily understandable across languages with similar descriptive toponyms.
Etymology
Painted Desert was named because the high, dry land had layers of rock and soil in red, orange and purple that looked like someone had painted the sandy desert. So the name helps you picture a 'desert' with bright bands of color.
