sainfoin

[ seyn-foin ]

/ ˈseɪn fɔɪn /

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noun

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

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Origin of sainfoin

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

Words nearby sainfoin

sail through, sail under false colors, sailyard, Saimaa, sain, sainfoin, Sainsbury, saint, Saint Agnes's Eve, Saint Albans, Saint Andrews

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use sainfoin in a sentence

In spring the land is green with corn and oak trees, and pink with the pink of sainfoin flowers.
The Story of Perugia|Margaret Symonds
No experimental agriculturist ever studied his lucerne and sainfoin as they have studied the grasses of that field.
Leaves from a Field Note-Book|J. H. Morgan
On land, once considered worthless, he cut four hundred tons of sainfoin from one hundred and four acres.
Makers of Modern Agriculture|William Macdonald
The two most striking exceptions are from foreign soil, the purple-blue lucerne and the crimson sainfoin.
The Naturalist on the Thames|C. J. Cornish

There are occasional fields of sainfoin and of turnips; but these latter are small, and no ridging or hurdling is yet practised.
Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 73, November, 1863|Various

British Dictionary definitions for sainfoin

sainfoin

/ (ˈsænfɔɪn) /

noun

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

Word Origin for sainfoin

C17: from French, from Medieval Latin sānum faenum wholesome hay, referring to its former use as a medicine

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