Tule tree
- noun
:
árbol de Tule
- With its massive trunk, the Tule tree is considered a natural wonder of Mexico.
Examples
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Tourists from around the world come to see the Tule tree in Santa María del Tule.
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The Tule tree is estimated to be more than 2,000 years old, making it one of the oldest living trees.
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The Tule tree is over 2,000 years old.
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Have you seen the Tule trees in Santa María del Tule?
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The Tule tree is estimated to be more than 2,000 years old, making it one of the oldest living trees.
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Tourists from around the world come to see the Tule tree in Santa María del Tule.
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With its massive trunk, the Tule tree is considered a natural wonder of Mexico.
Synonyms
A very large Mexican tree that often lives for hundreds of years
A large tree from Mexico that grows by rivers, has a very wide trunk and lives a long time
A large Mexican cypress tree with a very wide trunk and long life
A large tree with a thick trunk that grows near rivers and lakes in central Mexico
Surface Forms
Morphology
Tule + tree
This is a referential, compositional combination of a proper name and the noun 'tree', so a learner who knows 'Tule' and 'tree' can infer it refers to a tree called Tule. However, the specific encyclopedic information (that it is the famous ancient Montezuma cypress in Santa María del Tule and its great age/size) is world knowledge that cannot be derived from the constituents, making the transparency only partial.
Etymology
Tule tree comes from the local word tule, which means 'marsh reed', because the tree stood where reeds grew. Because this cypress was so very old and had a huge trunk, people began to call it the Tule tree, and that name now means the famous, very old tree in Santa María del Tule.
