black lovage

9.9

A herb like celery that grows along British coasts and is used in cooking

noun

: lovage negro

Gardeners sometimes cultivate black lovage as an alternative to celery in cooking.

Examples

She added chopped black lovage to the soup for extra flavor.
Black lovage thrives in the sandy soils near the British coastline.
I found some fresh black lovage at the market.
The recipe calls for black lovage as a seasoning.
Gardeners sometimes cultivate black lovage as an alternative to celery in cooking.
She added chopped black lovage to the soup for extra flavor.
The recipe calls for black lovage as a seasoning.

Synonyms

Smyrnium olusatrum

vsblack lovage

Specialized

9.9

A European herb with leaves like celery eaten as a vegetable

is the coastal plant but referred to under a different common name

alexanders

vsblack lovage

9.9

A leafy green plant like celery that people eat

is that coastal naturalized herb known by another traditional name

alexander

vsblack lovage

9.9

A leafy herb like celery used as a vegetable and to add flavor

is the coastal potherb sense rather than a different plant type

horse parsley

vsblack lovage

9.3

A European herb like celery that people use to flavor food

is the coastal naturalized plant with the same use but different species

Surface Forms

black lovage singular

black lovages plural

Morphology

black + lovage

This is a straightforward adjective + noun composition: 'black' modifies 'lovage', so the phrase denotes a type or variety of lovage associated with the quality 'black' (e.g., darker-colored or a named variety). Such compositional, descriptive patterns are standard cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Black lovage may come from the herb's dark leaves and the old word lovage, a cooking plant 'like celery' used to add flavor. So the name paints a simple picture of a dark-leaved cooking herb found near the coast, which is why it refers to that plant today.