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

They’re vegetarians: They eat grass, alfalfa, cassava, sweet potato, carrots, beets, and, at the zoo, a commercial feed.

From Slate • May 27, 2026

“And that’s really not that different from what a field of corn or alfalfa does,” said Troy Rule, the Arizona State University law professor who authored the article.

From Salon • Apr. 27, 2026

They banked almost 500,000 seeds from 19 species, including relatives of lettuce, parsnip, strawberry, radish, quinoa, blackberry, alfalfa and several species used as fodder crops for livestock.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026

He owns a large farming operation that grows sugar beets, alfalfa and melons and is one of the largest operators in the area.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 29, 2025

Next: the tiny town of Logan on Logan Street, and then Highway 20, with its flat yellow fields of alfalfa and corn and barley and wheat.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti