common arrowhead
- noun
- /ˈkɒmən ˈɛroʊhɛd/
- US
:
sagitaria
- The leaves of the common arrowhead are easily recognized by their distinctive shape.
Examples
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We spotted a patch of common arrowhead growing along the edge of the lake.
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The common arrowhead thrives in wetlands.
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Many wetland birds feed on the seeds of the common arrowhead.
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I found a patch of common arrowheads near the lake.
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Many wetland birds feed on the seeds of the common arrowhead.
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We spotted a patch of common arrowhead growing along the edge of the lake.
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The leaves of the common arrowhead are easily recognized by their distinctive shape.
Synonyms
A water plant with arrow-shaped leaves and white flowers on stalks
How Woody
Surface Forms
Morphology
common + arrowhead
The compound is compositional: 'common' means typical/frequent and 'arrowhead' can be understood as 'arrow' + 'head' (i.e., arrow-shaped), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer this refers to a commonly occurring thing with an arrow-shaped part — here a plant named for its leaf shape. This follows regular English compounding and is cross-linguistically transparent, so the meaning is readily derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Common arrowhead is a water plant whose leaves are shaped like an arrowhead, the pointed tip of an arrow. Because the shape is so clear and the plant grows in many wet places, people called it common arrowhead, with 'common' meaning 'widespread', so the name tells you both what it looks like and that it is often found there.