Etymograph

English

switchgrass

From switch + grass.

A compound of switch + grass

Middle Dutch swijch ‘twig’

English switch

Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- ‘to grow’

Proto-Germanic *grasą

Proto-West Germanic *gras

Old English græs

Middle English gras ‘a grass’

English grass

Today it means

noun A tall North American perennial grass, of species Panicum virgatum, used as forage and to make hay.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / switchgrass