sego lily
- noun
- /ˈseɪɡoʊ ˈlɪli/
- US
:
lirio sego
- The sego lily is known for its beautiful white flowers that bloom in the spring.
Examples
-
In some regions, people harvest the edible bulbs of the sego lily for their nutritious value.
-
The sego lily can often be found growing along the hillsides in western North America.
-
The biscuit root, the sego lily, and the shooting star still grow.
Fiction book (1992) -
Cummings' analysis yielded evidence that the PPOs were used to cook sego lily, so the authors wove both the PPOs and sego lily into the book.
Academic text (2004) -
Cummings' analysis yielded evidence that the PPOs were used to cook sego lily, so the authors wove both the PPOs and sego lily into the book.
Academic text (2004)
Synonyms
165
1.0
A tall plant with large, showy bell-shaped flowers often grown in gardens
A wildflower from western North America with white bell-shaped flowers
A white or yellow lily that grows in Utah and nearby western areas
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is compositional: 'sego' specifies a particular type/name and 'lily' names the flower, so a learner who knows both constituents will infer it denotes a kind of lily. This type + noun pattern is a common, cross-linguistic compound formation and therefore readily understandable to a B1 learner who knows the parts.
Etymology
Sego lily may come from a Native American word and is remembered because early settlers and Native people ate its bulbs when there was little food. That's why sego lily now brings to mind a pretty white flower with edible bulbs and the 'state flower' of Utah.