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Glite Dictionary
white melilot

white melilot

9.9
A tall plant with scented white flowers that bees visit for nectar and that is sometimes used for animal feed
  • noun
translation icon : meliloto blanco
  • Beekeepers often plant white melilot to provide nectar for their hives.

Examples

  • Many bees are attracted to white melilot flowers.

  • The meadow was filled with blooming white melilot swaying in the summer breeze.

  • Farmers sometimes use white melilot as green manure to enrich the soil.

  • The white melilot blooms beautifully in the summer.

  • Beekeepers often plant white melilot to provide nectar for their hives.

  • The meadow was filled with blooming white melilot swaying in the summer breeze.

  • Farmers sometimes use white melilot as green manure to enrich the soil.

Synonyms

Melilotus alba
vswhite melilot
  • Specialized
9.9

A two-year plant with white flowers that bees visit and animals eat

is the common everyday name rather than a Latin scientific form
white sweet clover
vswhite melilot
  • Specialized
6.8

A plant with white, sweet-smelling flowers that farmers grow to feed animals and attract bees

is used less intensively and only sometimes grown for fodder and honey

Surface Forms

white melilot singular
white melilots plural

Morphology

white + melilot

This is a straightforward adjective + noun composition: 'white' specifies the color and 'melilot' names the plant, so the meaning is simply a melilot plant that is white (i.e., has white flowers). The color-adjective + noun pattern is highly compositional and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily derive the meaning.

Etymology

The plant name white melilot may come from old words meaning 'honey plant' because melilot's sweet flowers attract bees and give them nectar. That's why beekeepers plant it and why the word white simply names the flower colour.