marine iguana
1
7.1
- noun
- /mɚˈin ɪˈɡwɑːnə/
:
iguana marina
- And that is perhaps something of a tragedy because just like the marine iguanas, we also have signals which say, spare me, I've had enough and don't wound me.
Examples
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The marine iguana is often seen sunbathing on the rocks near the shore.
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Now with a small marine iguana, it's even more interesting.
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If we deal with marine iguana, we note that the large ones feed like this one.
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In contrast, Darwin noted that the marine iguana had a very blunt nose with the name given to it of Ambley Rincus, which means simply blunt nose.
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While snorkeling, we spotted a marine iguana swimming gracefully through the kelp.
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The marine iguanas on the Galapagos Islands primarily feed on seaweed along the coastline.
Synonyms
A large lizard that lives on Galapagos shores and eats seaweed
A type of iguana that lives in the Galápagos and swims to eat sea plants
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is a straightforward adjective + noun compound: 'marine' (sea-associated) + 'iguana' (a large lizard) yields an iguana associated with the sea, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer habitat and basic nature. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically (e.g., Spanish 'iguana marina') and follows regular English semantics, making the meaning immediately transparent.
Etymology
The compound noun marine iguana comes from the animal's life in the sea: marine means 'sea' and iguana is a kind of 'lizard'. These lizards swim and eat 'seaweed', so the name helps you remember they are lizards that live in and feed from the ocean.