borrowed from French luzerne, going back to Middle French lauserne, lyserne, borrowed from Occitan (Provence) luzerno, probably extension of the dialectal sense "glowworm" (alluding to the glossy yellow seeds of some alfalfa varieties), going back to Old Occitan luzerna "lamp," going back to Latin lucerna "oil lamp," derivative (with unexplained short u) from the base of lūc-, lūx "light," with the suffix of lanternalantern — more at light entry 1
Share