alfalfa
[al-fal-fuh]
- a plant, Medicago sativa, of the legume family, usually having bluish-purple flowers, originating in the Near East and widely cultivated as a forage crop.
Origin of alfalfa
1835–45; < Spanish, variant of alfalfez < Spanish Arabic al the + faṣfaṣah < Persian ispist lucerne
Also called lucerne, purple medic.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for alfalfa
Contemporary Examples
The Alfalfa Club dinner crowd in tiaras was the order of the night.
A small flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, known as alfalfa.
They will concentrate instead on farming their 1,900 acres of alfalfa, 1,600 acres of corn, and 1,400 acres of soybeans.
They grew up as crop and dairy farmers in Iowa, tending corn, soy, alfalfa, hay, oats and clover.
To wit, Parvin has been a member of the Alfalfa Club for 26 years.
Historical Examples
And near them long trains of burros laden with grain, alfalfa, straw, or wood.
Aztec LandMaturin M. Ballou
Bob Johnson was stripping a stalk of alfalfa in his fingers.
Whispering SmithFrank H. Spearman
The Dean could have been enticed away to examine the alfalfa and the pumping system.
The Forbidden TrailHonor Willsie
Capital yields are produced after alfalfa or after root crops.
Agriculture for BeginnersCharles William Burkett
After this the alfalfa should be cut every two, three, or four weeks.
Agriculture for BeginnersCharles William Burkett
alfalfa
- a leguminous plant, Medicago sativa, of Europe and Asia, having compound leaves with three leaflets and clusters of small purplish flowers. It is widely cultivated for forage and as a nitrogen fixer and used as a commercial source of chlorophyllAlso called: lucerne
Word Origin
C19: from Spanish, from Arabic al-fasfasah, from al the + fasfasah the best sort of fodder
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for alfalfa
n.
1845, from Spanish alfalfa, earlier alfalfez, from Arabic al-fisfisa "fresh fodder."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper