broad-leaved plantain
- noun
:
plátano de hojas anchas
- Gardeners often remove broad-leaved plantain to prevent it from spreading in lawns.
Examples
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The broad-leaved plantain is commonly found in meadows and along roadsides.
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The reddish leafstalks distinguish the broad-leaved plantain from other species.
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The broad-leaved plantain is often found in gardens.
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Many people consider broad-leaved plantains to be weeds.
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Gardeners often remove broad-leaved plantain to prevent it from spreading in lawns.
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The broad-leaved plantain is commonly found in meadows and along roadsides.
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Many people consider broad-leaved plantain to be a weed in their gardens.
Synonyms
1
5.8
A small common weed with broad leaves and small flower spikes that grows by paths and lawns
A common plant with broad leaves that grows in lawns and gardens
A low plant with broad leaves that grows as a weed in lawns and fields
A common weed with broad, round leaves that grows in lawns and roadsides
Surface Forms
Morphology
broad-leaved + plantain
The phrase denotes a plantain that has broad leaves and this meaning is directly derivable from the parts: 'broad-leaved' (having broad leaves) + 'plantain' (the low-growing Plantago). The composition follows regular English adjectival modification and is morphologically transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will understand it.
Etymology
Broad-leaved plantain is a simple picture name: one popular story says plantain comes from an old word for the 'sole of the foot' because the plant's flat, wide leaves look like a foot, and broad-leaved means the leaves are wide. That's why the name fits this common 'weed' you see in lawns and gardens.