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Glite Dictionary
arrow arum

arrow arum

9.9
A North American water plant with arrow-shaped leaves and greenish flower spikes
  • noun
  • /ˈɛroʊ ˈɑːrəm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : arum flecha
  • The arrow arum grows near the edges of swamps, its arrow-shaped leaves standing out in the wetland.

Examples

  • The arrow arum is easily identifiable by its unique leaves and is often found in North American wetlands.

  • If you take the Lake Lacawac Trail, you will encounter arrow arum and goldenclub, two plants related to Jack-in-the-pulpit.

    Academic text (2011)

  • During our hike, we spotted the distinctive arrow arum with its greenish flowering spikes among the marsh vegetation.

Surface Forms

arrow arum singular
arrow arums plural

Morphology

arrow + arum

The meaning is directly derivable from its parts: 'arrow' describes the shape and 'arum' names the plant, so 'arrow arum' denotes an arum with arrow-shaped leaves. This simple adjective+noun composition is a common, compositional pattern cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Arrow arum comes from how the plant looks: the leaves are 'arrow-shaped', so the arrow part and the plant name arum together point to a water plant. That's why the name means a plant with 'arrow-shaped' leaves that grows in water.