bride's bonnet
- noun
- US
:
bonete de la novia
- In spring, the bride's bonnet blooms with delicate white blossoms.
Examples
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I saw a lovely bride's bonnet while hiking in Oregon.
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We spotted a bride's bonnet growing near the edge of the forest trail.
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Hikers in Montana often look for the rare bride's bonnet among the wildflowers.
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The bride's bonnet blooms in early spring.
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In spring, the bride's bonnet blooms with delicate white blossoms.
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We spotted a bride's bonnet growing near the edge of the forest trail.
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Hikers in Montana often look for the rare bride's bonnet among the wildflowers.
Synonyms
A small plant that lives for many years with one or two white star-shaped flowers on short bare stalks
A plant from western North America with one or two white star-shaped flowers on short leafless stems
Surface Forms
Morphology
bride's + bonnet
A B1 learner who knows 'bride' and 'bonnet' will most likely interpret this as a hat belonging to a bride, since 'bonnet' is defined as a type of headwear and the possessive 'bride's' points to ownership. The botanical sense (a specific North American flower) is an arbitrary conventional name that cannot be predicted from the constituents, so the meaning is idiomatic and not derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Bride's bonnet comes from how the small white, star-like flowers sit on short stalks. They look like a tiny bonnet a bride would wear, so the name describes a flower that looks like a small 'wedding hat'.
