bath asparagus
- noun
- UK
:
asparagus de baño
- The young shoots of bath asparagus are harvested before they flower.
Examples
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He foraged for wild bath asparagus along the woodland edges in spring.
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In this region, chefs prepare bath asparagus as a delicate seasonal vegetable.
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I found some fresh bath asparagus at the market.
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Have you ever tried bath asparagus in a salad?
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In this region, chefs prepare bath asparagus as a delicate seasonal vegetable.
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The young shoots of bath asparagus are harvested before they flower.
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He foraged for wild bath asparagus along the woodland edges in spring.
Synonyms
A plant with white star-shaped flowers whose young shoots people eat
A wild plant with thin tender shoots that you eat like a vegetable
Surface Forms
Morphology
bath + asparagus
The second constituent 'asparagus' signals that the referent is an edible plant with shoots like asparagus, so a learner can infer it is some kind or variety related to asparagus. However, the modifier 'bath' does not transparently contribute a clear meaning (it is likely a place-name or arbitrary label) and the species is not a true asparagus but only resembles it, so the full meaning is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Bath asparagus may come from the English town of Bath, where people once sold or ate a wild plant whose young shoots looked like asparagus. That's why bath asparagus means the 'edible young shoots' of that wild plant that resemble asparagus.
