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alfalfa - 4 dictionary results

al⋅fal⋅fa

[al-fal-fuh]
–noun
a plant, Medicago sativa, of the legume family, usually having bluish-purple flowers, originating in the Near East and widely cultivated as a forage crop.
Also called lucerne, purple medic.


Origin:
1835–45; < Sp, var. of alfalfez < SpAr al the + faṣfaṣah < Pers ispist lucerne
al·fal·fa   (āl-fāl'fə)   
n.  A southwest Asian perennial herb (Medicago sativa) having compound leaves with three leaflets and clusters of usually blue-violet flowers. It is widely cultivated as a pasture and hay crop.

[Spanish, from Arabic al-faṣfaṣa : al-, the + faṣfaṣa, alfalfa (variant of fiṣfiṣa, from Persian aspist, clover).]

Alfalfa

Al*fal"fa\, n. [Sp.] (Bot.) The lucern (Medicago sativa); -- so called in California, Texas, etc.

alfalfa 
1845, from Sp. alfalfa, earlier alfalfez, from Arabic al-fisfisa "fresh fodder."
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