Submitted NameRevisions Save Gender Feminine Usage American (Rare) Edit Status Status [show contributorshide contributors] Added 7/18/2011 by Ranchie Edited 5/8/2016 by SeaHorse15 Meaning & History From the English word for a flat treeless grassland, taken from French prairie "meadow". This was used by Thomas Pynchon for a character in his novel 'Vineland' (1990).