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Glite Dictionary
fishtail palm

fishtail palm

8.3
A tree from warm countries with leaves shaped like a fish tail
  • noun
  • Indian
translation icon : palma cola de pez
  • The leaves of the fishtail palm resemble a fish's tail, giving the tree its name.

Examples

  • Gardeners appreciate the beauty of the fishtail palm in tropical gardens.

  • Have you seen a fishtail palm before?

  • The fishtail palm is popular in landscaping for its unique foliage.

  • The fishtail palm adds beauty to the garden.

  • The garden was enhanced by the elegant fishtail palm, with its unique feathery leaves swaying gently in the breeze.

  • At the tropical resort, guests admired the stunning fishtail palms that framed the pool area beautifully.

  • She chose to decorate her patio with a fishtail palm, appreciating its distinctive leaf shape and vibrant green color.

Synonyms

Caryota
vsfishtail palm
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A tropical palm tree with leaves shaped like a fish's tail

is the specific attractive East Indian tree often grown as an ornamental
jaggery palm
vsfishtail palm
  • Indian
9.9

A tall palm whose sweet sap makes jaggery and whose soft inner trunk gives sago

is mainly valued for appearance and ornament rather than for food production

Surface Forms

fishtail palm singular
fishtail palms plural

Morphology

fishtail + palm

The meaning is directly derivable from the parts: 'fishtail' describes a tail-like shape and 'palm' denotes the tree, so 'fishtail palm' refers to a palm with fishtail-shaped leaves. This is a descriptive, compositional noun-noun compound following a common pattern cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand it.

Etymology

Fishtail palm is named for the way its leaves look. Each leaf is split and shaped like a 'fish's tail', so the word fishtail points to the shape and palm tells you it is a tree.