common barberry
- noun
- /ˈkɑːmən ˈbɑːrbəri/
:
agracejo
- The bright red berries of the common barberry attract many species of birds in the autumn.
Examples
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Gardeners often plant common barberry as an ornamental shrub due to its attractive foliage.
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Researchers studied the spread of common barberry in North American woodlands.
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The common barberry produces bright red berries.
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I saw a common barberry bush in the garden.
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The bright red berries of the common barberry attract many species of birds in the autumn.
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Gardeners often plant common barberry as an ornamental shrub due to its attractive foliage.
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The common barberry is known for its clusters of juicy red berries, which are popular among wildlife.
Synonyms
1
8.2
A thorny bush with yellow flowers and small red or blue berries
A small upright bush with leaves that fall in winter and red berries used in jams
A small shrub with clusters of red berries and prickly stems often grown in gardens
How Woody
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward adjective + noun compound: 'common' (typical, frequently occurring) modifies 'barberry' (a shrub), so the phrase denotes a barberry that is common or typical. There is no idiomatic or metaphorical shift—standard compositional semantics found across languages—so a B1 learner who knows both words will understand the meaning.
Etymology
Common barberry may come from an old word for plants from an area called Barbary in North Africa. People used that name for this shrub because of its small, bright red berries and sharp thorns, so today common barberry means a 'shrub with red berries'.