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Glite Dictionary
lucerne

lucerne

1 8.6
A plant with leaves in groups of three and purple flowers grown as hay for animals
  • noun
  • /luˈsɜrn/
  • UK
translation icon : alfalfa
  • Berseem and lucerne were major fodder crops for grazing during winter and spring seasons (November to April).

Examples

  • Lucerne is often used as a forage crop for cattle due to its high protein content.

  • Here and there ran stripes of pale green lucerne bordering the empty fields.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Horses were fed a mixture of lucerne (alfalfa) and grass hay, concentrates, and specified fruit and vegetables.

    Academic text (2014)

  • The farmer planted lucerne in the field to provide nutritious feed for his livestock.

  • During the summer months, the lush lucerne blooms attract various pollinators with its vibrant blue-violet flowers.

Synonyms

alfalfa
vslucerne
  • US
15 5.0

A plant grown for hay and food for farm animals

gives more botanical detail including leaf shape and flower colour
Medicago sativa
vslucerne
  • Specialized
6.6

A plant called alfalfa that farmers grow for nutritious animal food and hay

is the common everyday name used instead of the scientific form

Compounds

sickle lucerne
  • UK
9.9

A plant like a clover with bright yellow flowers and curved seed pods

Surface Forms

lucerne singular
lucernes plural

Etymology

Lucerne comes from the old French luzerne, the name for the same plant, and it is the common British word for what Americans call 'alfalfa'. So remember lucerne as the farmer's hay that feeds animals and improves the soil, which is why the word means this pasture crop.