PRAIRIE

noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: French, from Old French praierie, from Vulgar Latin *prataria, from Latin pratum meadow Date: circa 1682 land in or predominantly in grass, a tract of grassland: as, a large area of level or rolling land in the Mississippi River valley that in its natural uncultivated state usually has deep fertile soil, a cover of tall coarse grasses, and few trees, one of the dry treeless plateaus east of the Rocky Mountains that merge on their east side with the ~s proper and are characterized by shorter grasses and drier less fertile soil