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Glite Dictionary
bear's ear

bear's ear

9.7
A small plant with bright yellow flowers that grows in the Alps
  • noun
translation icon : aurícula
  • The gardener planted several bear's ear in the rock garden for their colorful blooms.

Examples

  • Many alpine enthusiasts cultivate bear's ear for its beauty and resilience.

  • I admired the bright yellow flowers of the bear's ear during my hike in the Alps.

  • The bear's ear plant blooms beautifully in spring.

  • I saw a bear's ear in the garden yesterday.

  • I admired the bright yellow flowers of the bear's ear during my hike in the Alps.

  • Many alpine enthusiasts cultivate bear's ear for its beauty and resilience.

  • The gardener planted several bear's ear in the rock garden for their colorful blooms.

Synonyms

Primula auricula
vsbear's ear
  • Specialized
9.3

A small mountain primrose with bright yellow flowers often grown in gardens

is the common everyday name used by gardeners rather than the scientific term
auricula
vsbear's ear
9.9

A small plant with bright yellow flowers often grown in gardens

is the formal scientific name used in classification and botanical texts

How Ornamental

bear's ear
9.7
rockery
  • UK
1 7.5
wildflower
33 2.2

Surface Forms

bear's ear singular
bear's ears plural

Morphology

bear's + ear

The phrase is compositionally interpretable as something resembling or associated with a bear's ear (a common folk-naming pattern for plants), so a learner who knows 'bear' and 'ear' could infer it refers to an object — plausibly a plant with ear-shaped leaves. However, the precise botanical sense 'a yellow-flowered primrose native to the Alps' is not derivable from the parts alone, so the relation is only partially predictable.

Etymology

The name bear's ear may come from a simple image: people thought the plant's round, soft leaves looked like a bear's little ear, so they called it bear's ear. That's why the name now means this 'small yellow mountain flower'.