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prairie

 - 4 dictionary results

prai⋅rie

[prair-ee]
–noun
1. an extensive, level or slightly undulating, mostly treeless tract of land in the Mississippi valley, characterized by a highly fertile soil and originally covered with coarse grasses, and merging into drier plateaus in the west. Compare pampas, savanna, steppe.
2. a tract of grassland; meadow.
3. (in Florida) a low, sandy tract of grassland often covered with water.
4. Southern U.S. wet grassland; marsh.
5. (initial capital letter) a steam locomotive having a two-wheeled front truck, six driving wheels, and a two-wheeled rear truck.


Origin:
1675–85; < F: meadow < VL *prātāria, equiv. to L prāt(um) meadow + -āria, fem. of -ārius -ary


prai⋅rie⋅like, adjective

Prairie, The

–noun
a historical novel (1827) by James Fenimore Cooper.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To prairie
prai·rie   (prâr'ē)   
n.  An extensive area of flat or rolling, predominantly treeless grassland, especially the large tract or plain of central North America.

[French, from Old French praierie, from Vulgar Latin *prātāria, from Latin prāta, meadow.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

prairie 
tract of level or undulating grassland in N.Amer., 1773, from Fr. prairie, from O.Fr. praerie (12c.), from V.L. *prataria, from L. pratum "meadow," originally "a hollow." The word existed in M.E. as prayere, but was lost and reborrowed to describe the American plains. Prairie dog is attested from 1774; prairie schooner "immigrant's wagon" is from 1841.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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