prairie
/ˈpɹɛə.ɹi/ noun, proper noun
Forms prairies
- noun An extensive area of relatively flat grassland with few, if any, trees, especially in North America.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Wilcox County, Alabama.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Randolph County, Illinois.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Black Township, Posey County, Indiana.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Monroe County, Mississippi.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Skagit County, Washington.
- proper noun A number of townships in the United States, listed under Prairie Township.
- proper noun A rural town in the Shire of Flinders, Queensland, Australia.
- proper noun A locality in the Shire of Loddon, Victoria, Australia.
Etymology
Borrowed from French prairie, from Old French praerie, from Vulgar Latin *prataria, from Latin prātum (“meadow”) + -aria.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An extensive tract of level or rolling land, destitute of trees, covered with coarse grass, and usually characterized by a deep, fertile soil. They abound throughout the Mississippi valley, between the Alleghanies and the Rocky mountains.
- noun A meadow or tract of grass; especially, a so called natural meadow. Prairie chicken (Zoöl.), any American grouse of the genus Tympanuchus, especially T. Americanus (formerly T. cupido), which inhabits the prairies of the central United States. Applied also to the sharp-tailed grouse.
Etymology [F., an extensive meadow, OF. praerie, LL. prataria, fr. L. pratum a meadow.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “prairie”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details