water milfoil
- noun
- /ˈwɔːtər ˈmɪl.fɔɪl/
- Specialized
:
milfoy de agua
- Invasive species such as water milfoil can disrupt local ecosystems and outcompete native plants.
- Eurasian water milfoil
Examples
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The lake is filled with water milfoil.
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Invasive water milfoil can quickly overtake lakes, disrupting native aquatic ecosystems.
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Divers pulled strands of water milfoil from the marina to prevent it from spreading further.
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The feathery leaves of water milfoil are easily distinguished from other underwater plants.
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Many fish species thrive in water milfoil habitats.
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Eurasian water milfoil is often found in lakes and ponds throughout North America.
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The delicate, feathery leaves of water milfoil provide shelter for small fish and aquatic insects.
Synonyms
1
9.3
A plant with fine feathery leaves that often grows in meadows or water
A water plant with many thin leaves that grows in lakes and ponds
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'milfoil' denotes a type of plant with finely divided leaves (often aquatic) and 'water' specifies its habitat, so the combined form denotes an aquatic milfoil plant. This is a literal, non-idiomatic compound that follows common noun–noun naming patterns across languages, making it immediately derivable for a learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Water milfoil comes from two parts: water, because the plant grows in water, and milfoil, an old word meaning 'thousand leaves' for plants with many small leaf parts. So the name gives a clear picture of a water plant covered in feathery, many-part leaves, which explains why we call this plant a 'water milfoil'.