lucerne
/luːˈsɜːn/ noun, proper noun
- noun (now rare) Alfalfa.
- proper noun A canton of Switzerland.
- proper noun The capital city of Lucerne canton, Switzerland.
- proper noun A census-designated place in Lake County, California.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Weld County, Colorado, named for the plant lucerne.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Harrison Township, Cass County, Indiana.
- proper noun A ghost town in Adell Township, Sheridan County, Kansas.
- proper noun A former settlement in Pittsfield Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan.
- proper noun A village in Putnam County, Missouri.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from French luzerne, from Occitan luzerno, of uncertain origin.
From French Lucerne, known in Swiss German as Lozärn, from Medieval Latin Lucernense, Luciaria, Lucerna, of uncertain origin, but possibly from Latin lūcĭus (“pike”) with the suffix -ārĭa, as in "place with a large number of pike." Popular etymology associated it with lucerna (“lantern”), though both words are related to lux (“light”). Also compare Leodegar, Burgundian bishop of Autun.
Webster’s 1913
- noun See Lucern, the plant.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “lucerne”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details