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Glite Dictionary
elephant ear

elephant ear

7.0
A tropical plant with very large heart-shaped leaves often grown in gardens
  • noun
  • /ˈɛlɪfənt ɪr/
translation icon : oreja de elefante
  • You can find elephant ears thriving in moist, shaded areas of tropical gardens, showcasing their large, beautiful leaves.
  • elephant ear plant

Examples

  • Like if these elephant ears really take to this spot, I think it's just going to be amazing.

  • Elephant ear plants, with leaves bigger than my hand.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • In high summer, his garden is filled with elephant ear plants that have huge, heart-shaped leaves.

  • The elephant ear is known for its dramatic foliage and is often used in tropical landscaping.

Synonyms

alocasia
vselephant ear
  • Specialized
9.9

A tropical plant with large, glossy leaves that people often grow for decoration

is the common name used for the same genus
elephant's ear
vselephant ear
6.5

A tropical plant with very large leaves that look like a big ear

is the specific tropical genus with heart shaped leaves and reddish berries

Surface Forms

elephant ear singular
elephant ears plural

Morphology

elephant + ear

This is a descriptive noun compound: the plant is named for its large leaves that resemble an elephant's ear, so a learner who knows 'elephant' and 'ear' can infer it refers to something with ear-like, very large leaves (i.e., a plant). Such resemblance-based naming and simple noun+noun composition are common cross-linguistically, making the meaning readily derivable by B1 learners.

Etymology

Elephant ear is the name of a plant with very large leaves that look like an elephant's ear. So the name means a 'plant' with huge, ear-shaped leaves.