sedge
pronunciation
How to pronounce sedge in British English:
UK [sedʒ]
How to pronounce sedge in American English:
US [sɛdʒ]
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- Noun:
- grasslike or rushlike plant growing in wet places having solid stems, narrow grasslike leaves and spikelets of inconspicuous flowers
Word Origin
- sedge
- sedge: [OE] The sedge is etymologically the plant with ‘cutting’ leaves. The word goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *sagjaz, which was descended from the Indo-European base *sek- ‘cut’ (source also of English saw, section, segment, sickle, etc).=> section, segment
- sedge (n.)
- "coarse grass-like plant growing in wet places," Old English secg "sedge, reed, rush," from Proto-Germanic *sagjoz (cognates: Low German segge, German Segge), probably from PIE root *sek- "to cut" (see section (n.) and compare Old English secg, identical in form but meaning "sword;" and German schwertel-gras "sedge" from schwert "sword"), on notion of plant with "cutting" leaves (compare etymological sense of gladiolus). Old Irish seisg, Welsh hesgreed "rush" might represent a similar sense development from the same root. Often spelled seg, segg until present form triumphed early 1900s.
Example
- 1. Sedge grows in marshes or near water .
- 2. Sedge of eastern north america having numerous clustered woolly spikelets .
- 3. Widely distributed north american sedge having rigid olive green stems .
- 4. So this is a sedge pollen grain from a marine core ?
- 5. This sedge must be early cleaned because its ears goes out from the beginning of april .