Fallow Meaning
/ˈfæləʊ/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounGround ploughed and harrowed but left unseeded for one year.
nounUncultivated land.
Sentence Examples
This field is fallow.
That fallow paddy field does not yield anymore.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Farmers often leave a field ____ for a season to restore soil fertility.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The farmer left the field ____ for a year to allow the soil to regain its natural nutrients.
Word Origin & History
[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)).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures
Whilst the landskip round it measures,
Russet lawns, and fallows gray,
Where the nibbling flocks do stray;
Mountains on whose barren breast
The labouring clouds do often rest;
Meadows trim with daisies pied,
Shallow brooks, and rivers wide."
— 1645, John Milton, L'Allegro:
"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."
— 1832, Sir John Sinclair, The Code of Agriculture:
"After two more homeland hits and a fallow two years, Pickettywitch was parked and junked."
— 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 316:
"How does your fallow greyhound, sir?"
— a. 1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, act 1, scene 1:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Farmers often leave a field ____ for a season to restore soil fertility.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The farmer left the field ____ for a year to allow the soil to regain its natural nutrients.