entry
prairie
/ˈpɹɛəɹi/flat, treeless grassland
From Latin pratum (meadow).
from Latin pratum "meadow," originally "a hollow," a word of uncertain origin; de Vaan suggests PIE *prh-to-...
+1 more sourcefrom Vulgar Latin *prataria
+1 more sourcefrom Old French praerie "meadow, pastureland" (12c.)
+1 more sourcefrom Vulgar Latin *prataria
+1 more sourcefrom Vulgar Latin *prataria
+1 more sourcefrom Old French praerie "meadow, pastureland" (12c.)
+1 more sourcefrom French prairie "meadow, grassland,"
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Latin pratum "meadow," originally "a hollow," a word of uncertain origin; de Vaan suggests PIE *prh-to-...
+1 more sourcefrom Vulgar Latin *prataria
+1 more sourcefrom Old French praerie "meadow, pastureland" (12c.)
+1 more sourcefrom Vulgar Latin *prataria
+1 more sourcefrom Vulgar Latin *prataria
+1 more sourcefrom Old French praerie "meadow, pastureland" (12c.)
+1 more sourcefrom French prairie "meadow, grassland,"
+1 more sourceA quiet meadow in Latin got dressed up with a suffix and, after a few centuries of French, crossed the Atlantic with explorers who needed a word for a landscape England had no neat label for. That’s why prairie feels both gentle and grand: it began as plain old pasture, then grew into the vast, wind-rippled grass seas of the Midwest and Great Plains. The English had briefly borrowed an earlier form, prayere, in Middle English, then forgot it, only to reborrow the word in the 1700s from French writers like Hennepin. The family resemblance is hidden but real: prairie belongs to the same meadow-and-pasture world as French pré, Italian prato, and Spanish prado. Even William Cullen Bryant could turn it into poetry in 1832, calling those open spaces “The Prairies” — as if the word itself had been waiting for a horizon.
The Story
A quiet meadow in Latin got dressed up with a suffix and, after a few centuries of French, crossed the Atlantic with explorers who needed a word for a landscape England had no neat label for. That’s why prairie feels both gentle and grand: it began as plain old pasture, then grew into the vast, wind-rippled grass seas of the Midwest and Great Plains. The English had briefly borrowed an earlier form, prayere, in Middle English, then forgot it, only to reborrow the word in the 1700s from French writers like Hennepin. The family resemblance is hidden but real: prairie belongs to the same meadow-and-pasture world as French pré, Italian prato, and Spanish prado. Even William Cullen Bryant could turn it into poetry in 1832, calling those open spaces “The Prairies” — as if the word itself had been waiting for a horizon.
Modern Usage
old-fashioned, rural, or overly wholesome in a kitschy way
Popularized by: online slang and references to Little House on the Prairie
Notable References
- Little House on the Prairie
Kin & Kindred
From 'pratum'·meadow; pasture
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From '-aria'·forming place-related nouns or adjectives
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary