alfilaria

[ al-fil-uh-ree-uh ]

noun

a European plant, Erodium cicutarium, of the geranium family, grown for forage in the U.S.

Origin of alfilaria

1865–70, Americanism;<Spanish alfilerillo, equivalent to alfiler pin (<Arabic al-khilāl the pin) + -illo diminutive suffix

Also called pin clover.

Words Nearby alfilaria

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use alfilaria in a sentence

In winter, the ground was thickly covered with burr-clover and the poetically-named alfilaria.
Sixty Years in Southern California 1853-1913 | Harris Newmark
There had been many winter snows and spring rains, so that the alfilaria covered the hills with a carpet of grass.
Mavericks | William MacLeod Raine
The Geranium, like the alfilaria, has a fruit resembling the long beak of the crane or stork.
Flowers of Mountain and Plain | Edith S. Clements
The cow was mooing reproachfully in a cropped circle of musky alfilaria behind the shed.
Stories of the Foot-hills | Margaret Collier Graham

British Dictionary definitions for alfilaria

alfilaria

alfileria

/ (ˌælfɪˈlɛərɪə) /

noun

a geraniaceous plant, Erodium cicutarium, native to Europe, with finely divided leaves and small pink or purplish flowers. It is widely naturalized in North America and is used as fodder: Also called: pin clover

Origin of alfilaria

via American Spanish from Spanish alfilerillo, from alfiler pin, from Arabic al-khilāl the thorn

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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