garlic mustard
- noun
- /ˈɡɑrlɪk ˈmʌstərd/
:
mostaza de ajo
- If you crush the leaves of garlic mustard, you will immediately smell a strong garlic aroma.
Examples
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The chef added garlic mustard to the salad dressing to enhance its flavor.
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When we toured the restored prairies, the naturalist told us about invasive, non-native plants such as garlic mustard and how they destroy native habitats.
Academic text (2009) -
In the spring, garlic mustard can be found growing along the forest edges.
Synonyms
A leafy herb with a mild garlic smell used in salads or cooking
A wild plant whose leaves smell like garlic when crushed
A wild plant with leaves that smell like garlic and can be eaten
A European herb with leaves that smell like garlic
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward noun–noun compound where the first noun ('garlic') modifies the second ('mustard'), signaling a type of mustard plant with garlic-like qualities (e.g., smell or flavor). A B1 learner who knows both words can reliably infer it refers to a mustard-related herb that smells or tastes like garlic, even if they do not know the specific botanical species name.
Etymology
Garlic mustard comes from the plant's smell: when you crush its leaves they give off a strong scent like garlic, even though the plant is in the mustard family. So the name means 'a mustard plant that smells like garlic', and today we use garlic mustard to name that plant.
