alfilaria

[ al-fil-uh-ree-uh ]

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

Origin of alfilaria

1
1865–70, Americanism;<Spanish alfilerillo, equivalent to alfiler pin (<Arabic al-khilāl the pin) + -illo diminutive suffix

Words Nearby alfilaria

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use alfilaria in a sentence

  • In winter, the ground was thickly covered with burr-clover and the poetically-named alfilaria.

  • 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
  1. 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

1
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