sainfoin

American  

[seyn-foin] / ˈseɪn fɔɪn /

noun

1. a Eurasian plant, Onobrychis viciifolia, of the legume family, having pinnate leaves and clusters of pink flowers, used for forage.

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sainfoin British  

/ ˈsænfɔɪn /

noun

1. a Eurasian perennial leguminous plant, Onobrychis viciifolia, widely grown as a forage crop, having pale pink flowers and curved pods

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Etymology

Origin of sainfoin

1620–30; < French, equivalent to Middle French sain (< Latin sānus healthy) + foin (< Latin fēnum, faenum hay)

Example Sentences

Fiver and Acorn followed him out and fell to nibbling at a patch of sainfoin.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Broom, and cytisus, and hawthorn mingled with roses, gladiolus, and sainfoin.

From Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece, Second Series by Brown, Horatio Robert Forbes

The methods for making alfalfa hay will apply also to sainfoin.

From Clovers and How to Grow Them by Shaw, Thomas

Besides beetroot for sugar, clover and sainfoin are grown, little or no barley, and neither turnips nor mangel-wurzel.

From In the Heart of the Vosges And Other Sketches by a "Devious Traveller" by Betham-Edwards, Matilda

The natural pastures are supplemented chiefly by crops of sainfoin and clover; horses, cattle, sheep and swine are reared in considerable numbers; turkeys, geese and other poultry are abundant.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 8 "Germany" to "Gibson, William" by Various