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glacier lily

glacier lily

8.5
A small plant with bright yellow flowers that grows near melting snow in high mountains
  • noun
  • /ˈɡleɪʃər ˈlɪli/
  • US
translation icon : lirio de glaciar
  • Hikers spotted several glacier lilies near the edge of the retreating glacier.

Examples

  • Look at those beautiful glacier lilies!

  • Hikers were delighted to see clusters of glacier lilies growing alongside the trail in the alpine meadows.

  • The glacier lily blooms soon after the snow melts in the high mountain meadows.

  • The bright yellow flowers of the glacier lily add color to the alpine landscape in spring.

  • The glacier lily blooms in early spring.

  • In early spring, bright yellow glacier lilies bloom near the melting snow in the mountains.

  • After the winter thaw, the vibrant glacier lilies appeared, adding color to the barren landscape.

Synonyms

snow lily
vsglacier lily
  • US
9.1

A small wild flower with bright yellow petals that grows in mountain meadows

adds alpine snow habitat detail rather than only species identity
Erythronium grandiflorum
vsglacier lily
  • Specialized
9.9

A wild spring flower with bright yellow petals that grows in western North America

emphasizes alpine location near receding snow not just flower color or species

Surface Forms

glacier lily singular

Morphology

glacier + lily

The meaning 'a lily associated with glaciers or snowmelt' is directly derivable from combining 'glacier' (a mass of ice) with 'lily' (a flower); this is a literal noun+noun compound describing where the plant is found. Such compositional, descriptive compounds are common cross-linguistically and should be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Glacier lily gets its name from where it grows: bright yellow lily flowers appear just as the snow and ice near a glacier begin to melt. So the name means a plant that 'blooms' right after the snow melts.