water-lily family
1
6.8
- noun
- Specialized
- In the garden pond, the water-lily family thrives with its large, round leaves and colorful blooms.
Examples
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Nature's lily pad is a floating leaf of the white water lily family.
Blog text (12) -
The water-lily family includes beautiful flowers that float on the surface of lakes.
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We spotted several plants from the water-lily family during our nature walk by the river.
Synonyms
A family of water plants like water lilies with large floating leaves and bright flowers
Surface Forms
Morphology
water-lily + family
The phrase denotes a taxonomic/grouping 'family' of the plant type 'water-lily', so its meaning is directly derivable from combining a known plant name with the noun for a group. This noun-noun compositional pattern (family of X) is common and cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily understand it.
Etymology
Water-lily family paints a simple picture: a group of water-lily plants, the pretty flowers that float on ponds, seen together as a family of related plants. So, the term means 'a group of related pond plants'.