Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GRASS, n. [Sax. græs, gærs, or græd; Goth. gras; G. and D. gras; Sw. gräs; Dan. græs. In G. rasen is turf, sod, and verrasen, to overgrow with grass; hence, g may be a prefix. Grass may be allied to Gr. αγρωστις, κραστις, γραστις.]

1. In common usage, herbage; the plants which constitute the food of cattle and other beasts.
2. In botany, a plant having simple leaves, a stem generally jointed and tubular, a husky calyx, called glume, and the seed single. This definition includes wheat, rye, oats, barley, &c. and excludes clover and some other plants which are commonly called by the name of grass. The grasses form a numerous family of plants. Encyc. Grass of Parnassus, a plant, the Parnassia.