mute swan
- noun
- /mjuːt swɑn/
:
cisne mudo
- During our walk, we spotted a mute swan nesting by the pond, peacefully tending to its young.
Examples
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The mute swan glided gracefully across the lake, its white feathers shimmering in the sunlight.
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The recent controversy surrounding the population of mute swans in the Chesapeake Bay is a good example.
Academic text (2004) -
In spring, the mute swan returns to the river to mate and raise its cygnets.
Synonyms
A large white swan from Europe and Asia often kept in parks and usually quiet
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective+noun composition is directly interpretable: a B1 learner who knows 'mute' (silent) and 'swan' (large aquatic bird) can infer it denotes a swan that is quiet or less vocal. This follows a common cross-linguistic pattern of adjective modification, so the meaning is immediately derivable from the parts.
Etymology
The noun mute swan comes from people noticing that this swan is much quieter than other swans. The word mute means 'quiet' and swan is the bird, so the name gives the picture of a large white bird that glides almost silently, which is why it refers to this quiet species today.
