sedge

[sej] /sɛdʒ/

noun

any rushlike or grasslike plant of the genus Carex, growing in wet places.

Compare sedge family.

any plant of the sedge family.

siege (def 5).

Origin

before 900; Middle English segge, Old English secg; akin to saw¹; presumably so named from its sawlike edges

British Dictionary definitions for sedge

sedge

/sɛdʒ/

noun

any grasslike cyperaceous plant of the genus Carex, typically growing on wet ground and having rhizomes, triangular stems, and minute flowers in spikelets

any other plant of the family Cyperaceae

Derived Forms

sedgy, adjective

Word Origin

Old English secg; related to Middle High German segge sedge, Old English sagusaw1

Word Origin and History for sedge

"coarse grass-like plant growing in wet places," Old English secg "sedge, reed, rush," from Proto-Germanic *sagjoz (cf. Low German segge, German Segge), probably from PIE root *sek- "to cut" (see section (n.) and cf. Old English secg, identical in form but meaning "sword;" and cf. German schwertel-gras "sedge" from schwert "sword"), on notion of plant with "cutting" leaves (cf. 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.