red-flowered

The compound adjective 'red-flowered' is a transparent English formation built from native and borrowed elements. The color term 'red' has ancient Germanic roots, tracing back to Proto-Indo-European h₁rewdʰ-, meaning "red" or "ruddy." The noun 'flower' entered English via Old French from the Latin flōs, itself from a Proto-Italic source. The suffix '-ed' is a productive native English morpheme used to create adjectives meaning "possessing" or "characterized by" the noun it attaches to. Thus, the literal and modern meaning align directly: a plant described as 'red-flowered' is one characterized by having red blossoms.

Structure: red (color) + flower (blossom) + ed (adjective suffix) - red: From Old English rēad, of Germanic origin, related to Dutch rood and German rot. Functions as a descriptive adjective. - flower: From Old French flour, from Latin flōs, flōr- (flower, blossom). Functions as a noun. - ed: From Old English -ede, -od, -ad, forming adjectives from nouns, meaning "having, provided with, characterized by".