alfalfa

American  

[al-fal-fuh] / ælˈfæl fə /

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.

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alfalfa British  

/ ælˈfælfə /

noun

1. Also called: lucerne.  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

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Etymology

Origin of alfalfa

First recorded in 1835–45; from Spanish, variant of alfalfez, from Spanish Arabic al “the” + faṣfaṣah from Persian ispist “lucerne”

Explanation

Alfalfa is a plant that's often grown to feed livestock. Hay is commonly made from the dried alfalfa plant. Alfalfa is a flowering perennial, a plant that returns every year, although it's best known as food for dairy cattle and other livestock animals. When the plant is harvested and dried, it's often made into hay, and it's a popular feed because it's high in protein. If you're not a farmer, you may be most familiar with the sprouted form of alfalfa, which many people eat on salads. The word comes from an Arabic root, al-fisfisa, "fresh fodder."

Example Sentences

Here, “cowlick” can mean either a bald spot or a tuft of hair sticking straight up, like the one the character Alfalfa sports in The Little Rascals.

From Scientific American • Aug. 18, 2023

Alfalfa has long been tagged as a profligate water user, and scrutiny of the crop is back in the news, for good reason.

From Salon • Oct. 29, 2022

Alfalfa, wheat, cotton, sesame, and other crops would be grown and processed on the 400,000 acres of leased land, he said.

From Reuters • Jun. 20, 2022

On Sept. 2, Deschutes County authorities raided a 30-acre property in Alfalfa, just east of Bend.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 18, 2021

That night he took Martha Scroggs to the Alfalfa Delt hop.

From At Good Old Siwash by Fitch, George