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Glite Dictionary
five-finger

five-finger

8.1
A plant with a five-petaled flower that people use in home herbal remedies
  • noun
translation icon : cincoenrama
  • She carefully gathered five-finger flowers from the garden to make a soothing tea.

Examples

  • The herbalist recommended five-finger grass for its reputed healing properties.

  • Finally, after a sigh, I took out the pouch of five-finger grass and put it under her pillow.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • I noticed he had rings on three out of five fingers.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • I went to the dresser and opened the bottom drawer where I had the pouch of five-finger grass P247.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • In the folklore, five-finger plants were said to bring good luck and prosperity.

Synonyms

cinquefoil
vsfive-finger
  • Specialized
9.9

A small plant with leaves divided into parts and flowers with five petals, often yellow

is a broader name for various five-petaled plants often thought to have medicinal properties

Surface Forms

five-finger singular
five-fingers plural
five-fingered singular

Morphology

five-finger = five + finger (semi-transparent) = five + finger

The compound is clearly built from 'five' + 'finger', but its usage as a plant name (referring to petals or lobes) is a specialized, metaphorical extension rather than a straightforward literal description.

Etymology

The word five-finger is named from the simple English parts five ('five') and finger ('finger'), because the flower has five petals that spread like the five fingers of a small hand. So the name helps you remember and identify the plant.