Zea mays amylacea
- noun
- Specialized
:
maíz amiláceo
- Traditional South American cuisines use Zea mays amylacea to make various types of flour and breads.
Examples
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Scientists analyzed the starch content of Zea mays amylacea to improve crop yields.
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The farmer decided to plant Zea mays amylacea this season.
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The local market sells several varieties of maize, including Zea mays amylacea for specialty recipes.
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Many bakers prefer Zea mays amylacea for making flour.
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The local market sells several varieties of maize, including Zea mays amylacea for specialty recipes.
-
Many bakers prefer Zea mays amylacea for making flour.
-
Traditional South American cuisines use Zea mays amylacea to make various types of flour and breads.
Synonyms
A type of corn with very soft kernels used to make fine meal
A type of corn with soft, starchy kernels
Corn with kernels that are mostly soft and grind easily into flour
Surface Forms
Morphology
Zea + mays + amylacea
This is a scientific Latin binomial rather than a productive English phrase: the constituents 'mays' and 'amylacea' are technical/Latin morphemes (and not common English words), so a B1 learner who knows ordinary English vocabulary would not be able to derive ‘a starchy variety of maize’ from them. Even if 'Zea' signals the genus, the taxonomic and Latinized elements make the meaning non-compositional and language-specific, so it is not transparently understandable to typical learners.
Etymology
The plant name Zea mays amylacea comes from Latin: Zea mays means corn and amylacea comes from a word for 'starch'. So the name points to a very starchy corn used to make 'flour' and other foods.
