croft

1 of 2

noun (1)

ˈkrȯft 

1

chiefly British : a small enclosed field usually adjoining a house

2

chiefly British : a small farm worked by a tenant

crofter

ˈkrȯf-tər 

noun chiefly British

crofter

2 of 2

noun (2)

croft·​er ˈkrȯf-tər 

ˈkräf-

plural -s

chiefly British

: one that rents and works a croft

Examples of croft in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

That simple statement sums up not only the slender margin of survival in the crofts, but also the tectonic collision between waning subsistence living on the remote western islands and the explosion of excess and spending in 1990s mainland Scotland. —Paula Cooper, CBS News, 5 May 2026

Crossing to Scotland, Lerwick adds Shetland ponies and stone crofts, Kirkwall delivers Norse-meets-Scottish history and Skara Brae-era vibes, and Edinburgh’s skyline crowns it with castle views before the elegant glide up the Thames to Greenwich. —Jill Schildhouse, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025

Meanwhile, as the Highland Clearances violently removed tenant-farmer Scots from their crofts, the more communal, indoor instruments all but disappeared. —Elena Saavedra Buckley, New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2025

Living on a croft, our family was there for some months in early 1967. —John McPhee, The New Yorker, 31 Jan. 2022

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1) and Noun (2)

Middle English, from Old English; akin to Middle Dutch krocht hill

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for croft

• coughed
• doffed
• loft
• oft
• scoffed
• soft
• toft
• waft
• aloft
• hayloft

Kids Definition

croft

noun

ˈkrȯft 

1

chiefly British : a small enclosed field

2

chiefly British : a small farm worked by a tenant

crofter noun chiefly British