alfalfez

Old Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁eḱ-

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éḱwos

Proto-Indo-Iranian *Háćwas

Proto-Iranian *Hácwah

Proto-Iranian *Hástiš

Proto-Iranian *HacwaHastiš

Old Median *aspāstišder.

Arabic فَصْفَص (faṣfaṣ)bor.

Old Spanish alfalfez

Borrowed from Arabic الْفَصْفَصَة (al-faṣfaṣa).

Noun

alfalfez m (plural alfalfezes)

1. alfalfa
   • c. 1380–1385, Ferrer Sayol, transl., Libro de Palladio, translation of Opus agriculturae by Palladius, page 130r:

     E sepas que el alfalfez estercuela e engrasa el campo o la tierra.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• Spanish: alfalfa, alfalfez (Argentina)
  • → English: alfalfa
    • → Irish: alfalfa
    • → Welsh: alffalffa
  • → Italian: alfalfa
  • → Tagalog: alpalpa

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alfalˈfeθ/ [al.falˈfeθ] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /alfalˈfes/ [al.falˈfes] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -eθ (Spain)
• Rhymes: -es (Latin America, Philippines)
• Syllabification: al‧fal‧fez

Noun

alfalfez m (plural alfalfeces)

1. (Argentina) alternative form of alfalfa

Further reading

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