white lily
1
3.5
- noun
:
lirio blanco
- During the springtime, many people visit the park to admire the blooming white lilies.
- beautiful white lilies
Examples
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A bouquet of white lilies droops from a green vase on a Parsons table that has been pushed against a tall upright dresser from which the blue paint has mostly faded.
Fiction book (1990) -
She arranged a stunning bouquet featuring several fragrant white lilies.
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A sea of white lilies.
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I bought fifteen white lilies.
Fiction book (1999) -
She was standing in a forest of enormous white lilies.
Fiction book (1991) -
The yard had a fountain, a pond with goldfish, and a million white lilies.
Fiction book (1991) -
There were white lilies, red roses, daisies, and a myriad of other flowers crammed into every available vase in the house.
Fiction book (1992) -
A cemetery - morning Ramon Gallegos lays a bouquet of white lilies on a grave.
Fiction book (1992) -
Stunned, Nula rose and took the flowers, a clutch of white lilies, yellow peonies, tulips, and a single sunflower, wrapped in newspaper.
Fiction book (1999) -
The garden was filled with elegant white lilies, their petals glistening in the sun.
Synonyms
A white water lily that grows in Egypt and parts of Africa and was sacred to ancient Egyptians
A white water lily that grows on water in Egypt and nearby regions, once sacred to the ancient Egyptians
A white water lily with fragrant flowers that grows in ponds
A water plant with large white flowers that float on ponds
A plant with large white funnel-shaped flowers and a strong sweet smell
A large white garden flower with wide trumpet-shaped blooms
A white spring flower with broad funnel-shaped petals from the eastern Mediterranean
A white lily from the eastern Mediterranean often shown in Christian art
A tall plant with large white trumpet-shaped flowers that bloom in spring
A tall white lily with large trumpet-shaped flowers that bloom in spring, often used at Easter
A tall plant with large fragrant white trumpet-shaped flowers that bloom in spring
A plant with branching clusters of white, egg-shaped flowers
A plant with large white flowers that grows in mountains
A plant that grows in wet places with thin stems and small white flowers
A garden plant with tall spikes of small star-shaped pale white flowers
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a lily that is white' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'white' (a color adjective) with 'lily' (a flower); there is no idiomatic or metaphorical shift. This adjectival noun construction is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand it refers to a lily with white flowers.
Etymology
White lily names a real flower: white for its color and lily for the kind of flower. Ancient people, especially the Egyptians, often showed this bloom on ponds and in art as a sign of 'purity' and new life, so today the name makes us think of that pure, white flower and is used for several similar kinds.