Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Alfalfa.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A leguminous plant, Medicago sativa, a highly valuable pasture- and forage-plant, cultivated from ancient times, now widely spread in temperate climates.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) See lucern, the plant.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun UK Alfalfa.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun important European leguminous forage plant with trifoliate leaves and blue-violet flowers grown widely as a pasture and hay crop

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French luzerne, from Provençal luzerno, glowworm (perhaps from its shiny seeds), from Latin lucerna, lamp, from lūcēre, to shine; see lucid.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French luzerne ("lamp"), because of its bright seeds.

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