sward

[swawrd]
noun
1.
the grassy surface of land; turf.
2.
a stretch of turf; a growth of grass.
verb (used with object)
3.
to cover with sward or turf.
verb (used without object)
4.
to become covered with sward.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English (noun); Old English sweard skin, rind; cognate with German Schwarte rind, Old Frisian swarde scalp, Middle Dutch swaerde skin

Related forms
un·der·sward, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
sward (swɔːd) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  turf or grass or a stretch of turf or grass
 
—vb
2.  to cover or become covered with grass
 
[Old English sweard skin; related to Old Frisian swarde scalp, Middle High German swart hide]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

sward
"grass-covered ground," O.E. sweard "skin, rind" (of bacon, etc.), from P.Gmc. *swarthu- (cf. O.Fris. swarde "skin of the head," M.Du. swarde "rind of bacon," Ger. Schwarte "thick, hard skin, rind," O.N. svörðr "walrus hide"). Meaning "sod, turf" developed c.1300, on notion of the "skin" of
the earth (cf. O.N. grassvörðr, Dan. grønsvær "greensward").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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