fallow

CEFRC2

/ˈfæləʊ/

adjective · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Land left unused for a period so it can recover.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    The ploughing or tilling of land, without sowing it for a season.

Examples

  • That fallow paddy field does not yield anymore.

  • This field is fallow.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
4
Synonyms
3

Also pronounced

  • /ˈfæloʊ/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Uncultivated land.

  2. Ploughed but left unseeded for more than one planting season.

noun

Extra meaning

  1. Ground ploughed and harrowed but left unseeded for one year.

More examples

In context

  • a fallow deer or greyhound

  • a fallow period in one's career

  • By a complete summer fallow, land is rendered tender and mellow. The fallow gives it a better tilth than can be given by a fallow crop.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Farmers often leave a field blank for a season to restore soil fertility.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

[Alt: A photograph of a ploughed field.] From Middle English falwe, from Old English fealh, fealg (“fallow land”), from Proto-West Germanic *falgu (compare Saterland Frisian Falge, West Frisian falig, felling, Dutch valg, German Felge), from Proto-Indo-European *polḱéh₂ (“arable land”) (compare Gaulish olca, Russian полоса́ (polosá)).