Word of the Day

: December 15, 2013

agrarian

adjective uh-GRAIR-ee-un

What It Means

1 : of or relating to fields or lands or their tenure

2 a : of, relating to, or characteristic of farmers or their way of life

b : organized or designed to promote agricultural interests

agrarian in Context

Since buying their organic farm three years ago, Ken and Sheila have been gradually adjusting to an agrarian lifestyle.

"Move Election Day to the weekend. While the first Tuesday in November worked for an agrarian, horse and buggy society, it's time to scrap it in the modern world." - From a column by R. Matthew Poteat in The Daily News Leader (Staunton, Virginia), November 9, 2013

Did You Know?

Today, an acre is generally considered to be a unit of land measuring 43,560 square feet (4,047 square meters). Before that standard was set, it's believed that an acre represented a rougher measurement-the amount of land that could be plowed in one day with a yoke of oxen. Both "acre" and today's word, "agrarian," derive from the Latin noun "ager" and the Greek noun "agros," meaning "field." (You can probably guess that "agriculture" is another descendant.) "Agrarian," first used in English in the 17th century, describes things pertaining to the cultivation of fields, as well as the farmers who cultivate them.