alfalfa

[ al-fal-fuh ]

noun
  1. a plant, Medicago sativa, of the legume family, usually having bluish-purple flowers, originating in western Asia and widely cultivated as a forage crop.

Origin of alfalfa

1
First recorded in 1835–45; from Spanish, variant of alfalfez, from Spanish Arabic al “the” + faṣfaṣah from Persian ispist “lucerne”
  • Also called lucerne, purple medic.

Words Nearby alfalfa

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How to use alfalfa in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for alfalfa

alfalfa

/ (ælˈfælfə) /


noun
  1. 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 chlorophyll: Also called: lucerne

Origin of alfalfa

1
C19: from Spanish, from Arabic al-fasfasah, from al the + fasfasah the best sort of fodder

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