arable

CEFRC1

/ˈæɹəbl̩/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Suitable for growing crops.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Land that can be cropped (i.e., land that is arable); land that is being cropped (i.e., land that is in the cropping phase of a crop rotation, currently being cropped rather than used as pasture or fallow).

Examples

  • Algeria has thousands of hectares of arable land.

  • Arable land is land that can be used to grow crops.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Under cultivation (within any quinquennial period) for the production of crops sown and harvested within the same agricultural year (contrasted with permanently-cropped lands such as orchards).

  2. Able to be plowed or tilled, capable of growing crops (traditionally contrasted with pasturable lands such as heaths).

More examples

In context

  • And again, since no animal now stole, it was unnecessary to fence off pasture from arable land […]

  • Arrangements for the drainage of this piece of arable were commenced last summer

Antonyms

Quick test

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Question 1 · Quick check

The fertile valley contained vast stretches of blank land perfect for growing wheat.

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Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle English arable, from Middle French arable, from Old French arable, from Latin arābilis, formed from arō (“plow”) + -bilis (“able to be”). Cognate with earable (“arable”).