Prairie Is Simply the French Word for Meadow
A prairie is a large area of grassland in North America. The word is French, and it was applied by explorers who had no English equivalent.
A prairie is a wide expanse of grassland, particularly in central North America. The word is French for meadow, adopted by French explorers who found no English word big enough for what they were crossing. Almost all of the tallgrass prairie has since been ploughed; it is one of the most reduced habitats on the continent.
- A large area of grassland. *Driving across the prairie.*
- Prairie as a modifier. *Prairie soil.*
- Prairie dog — a burrowing rodent, not a dog. *A prairie dog town.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | prairie | The open prairie. |
| Plural | prairies | The Canadian prairies. |
| Compound | prairie dog | Prairie dog burrows. |
| Related | steppe | The Eurasian steppe. |
| Related | pampas | The Argentine pampas. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The prairie stretched to the horizon.Geography.
- Prairie dogs live in large colonies.Called towns.
- Less than four per cent of tallgrass prairie remains.A widely cited estimate.
Grasslands around the world
- Prairie — North America
- Steppe — Eurasia
- Pampas — Argentina and Uruguay
- Savanna — tropical grassland with scattered trees
- Veld — southern Africa
From French *prairie*, meadow, from Old French *praerie*, from Latin *pratum*, meadow. English adopted it in the eighteenth century as settlers moved west.
Is a prairie dog a dog?
No. It is a burrowing ground squirrel. The name comes from its barking alarm call.
Prairie or steppe?
The same kind of habitat on different continents. Prairie is North American, steppe Eurasian, and the plants differ accordingly.