Where does “switchgrass” come from?
Switchgrass is a compound of switch and grass, where grass derives from Middle English gras, Old English gærs, and Proto-Indo-European gʰredʰ-, meaning to grow or sprout.
switchgrass (English): A tall North American perennial grass, Panicum...
Definitions
- A tall North American perennial grass, Panicum...
Ancestry of “switchgrass”, step by step
switchgrass traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English grass
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | grass | Any plant of the family Poaceae, characterized by... |
| 2 | Middle English | gras | A grass; Any plant; especially a herbaceous one;... |
| 3 | Old English | græs | grass |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | gras | grass |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | grasą | grass |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰreh₁- | to become green, grow; to grow; to green, to grow |