alfalfa

UK: /ælˈfælfə/ US: /ælˈfælfə/ ,(al fal′fə)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

al•fal•fa /ælˈfælfə/   n. [uncountable]

1. Plant Biology a plant of the legume family used esp. to feed animals.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

al•fal•fa  (al fal′fə), n. 

1. Plant Biology 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. 

• Persian ispist lucerne
• Spanish Arabic al the + faṣfaṣah
• Spanish, variant of alfalfez
• 1835–45

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

alfalfa / ælˈfælfə/ noun

1. a leguminous plant, Medicago sativa, of Europe and Asia, having compound leaves with three leaflets and clusters of small purplish flowers. It is widely cultivated for forage and as a nitrogen fixer and used as a commercial source of chlorophyll
   Also called: lucerne

Etymology: 19th Century: from Spanish, from Arabic al-fasfasah, from al the + fasfasah the best sort of fodder