alfalfa

From Spanish alfalfa, from Old Spanish alfalfez, from Arabic الْفَصْفَصَة (al-faṣfaṣa, “alfalfa, lucerne”).

• IPA^(key): /ælˈfælfə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

alfalfa (countable and uncountable, plural alfalfas)

2. (uncountable) A plant, principally of Medicago sativa, grown as a pasture crop.

   Synonym: (British) lucerne

   • 1937, John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men‎, New York: Covici Friede, page 100:

     “No place for rabbits now, but I could easy build a few hutches and you could feed alfalfa to the rabbits.”

3. (countable) A type or breed of this plant.

• → Irish: alfalfa
• → Welsh: alffalffa

• alfalfa on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Medicago sativa on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Medicago sativa on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• alfalfa at USDA Plants database
• alfalfa at Integrated Taxonomic Information System.

From Spanish alfalfa.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑlfɑlfɑ/,
• Rhymes: -ɑlfɑlfɑ
• Hyphenation^(key): al‧fal‧fa

alfalfa

1. alfalfa

• sinimailanen

• “alfalfa”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Borrowed from English alfalfa, from Spanish alfalfa.

alfalfa m (genitive singular alfalfa)

1. alfalfa, lucerne (Medicago sativa)

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “alfalfa”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

From Spanish alfalfa, from Arabic الْفَصْفَصَة (al-faṣfaṣa).

• IPA^(key): /alˈfal.fa/
• Rhymes: -alfa
• Hyphenation: al‧fàl‧fa

alfalfa f (uncountable)

1. lucerne, alfalfa (Medicago sativa)

   Synonyms: erba medica, erba Spagna

• alfarfa

Borrowed from Arabic الْفَصْفَصَة (al-faṣfaṣa).

Cognate with Old Catalan alfalç and Old Spanish alfalfez.

• IPA^(key): /alˈfalfa/
• Rhymes: -alfa
• Hyphenation: al‧fal‧fa

alfalfa f (plural alfalfas)

1. alfalfa (Medicago sativa)
   • (in Latin); republished as Portugaliae Monumenta Historica, volume I, Lisbon: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, 1856, page 195:

     Et melior adiual de alfarfa ualeat quatuor denarios. Et melior solla de alfarfa ualeat tres denarios.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)]

   • 1335, ; republished as Collecção de ineditos de historia portugueza, volume V, Lisbon: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, 1790, page 534:

     Da carrerga de sparto, e de baraços dalfalfa, e de soltas quatro dinheiros do maravide da boa moeda, que som per esta moeda dous mil dinheiros, que som oyto libras e sseys soldos e oito dinheiros, que som dous reaes de tres meia e biinte seis soldos e oito dinheiros.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• Galician: alfalfa, alforfa
• Portuguese: alfafa

• José Pedro Machado (1995) “alfalfa”, in Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa: com a mais antiga documentação escrita e conhecida de muitos dos vocábulos estudados (in Portuguese), 7 edition, volume I, Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, →ISBN, page 189, column 2

• IPA^(key): /alˈfalfa/
• Rhymes: -alfa
• Syllabification: al‧fal‧fa

Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:

alfalfa

Wikipedia ^es

Inherited from Old Spanish alfalfez, from Arabic الْفَصْفَصَة (al-faṣfaṣa).

• alfalfez (Argentina)

alfalfa f (plural alfalfas)

1. alfalfa

• → English: alfalfa
  • → Irish: alfalfa
  • → Welsh: alffalffa
• → Italian: alfalfa

alfalfa

1. inflection of alfalfar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• “alfalfa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10