al·fal·fa   Audio pronunciation of "alfalfa" ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (l-flf)
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-fafaa : al-, the + fafaa, alfalfa (variant of fifia, from Persian aspist, clover).]
 
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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alfalfa

Lucern \Lu"cern\, n. [F. luzerne.] (Bot.) A leguminous plant (Medicago sativa), having bluish purple cloverlike flowers, cultivated for fodder; -- called also alfalfa. [Written also lucerne.]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

alfalfa

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

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

alfalfa

n 1: important European leguminous forage plant with trifoliate leaves and blue-violet flowers grown widely as a pasture and hay crop [syn: lucerne, Medicago sativa] 2: leguminous plant grown for hay or forage

Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University