arable

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French arable, from Latin arābilis, formed from arō (“plow”) + -ābilis (“able to be”). Cognate with earable (“arable”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæɹəbl̩/

Adjective

arable (comparative more arable, superlative most arable)

1. (agriculture, of land) Able to be plowed or tilled, capable of growing crops (traditionally contrasted with pasturable lands such as heaths).
   • 1945 August 17, George Orwell, chapter 6, in Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, London: Secker & Warburg, OCLC 3655473:

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

2. (agriculture, NGO jargon, of land) 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).

Anagrams

• Arbela, Barela, ablare

Etymology

From Old French arable, from Latin arābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ʁabl/

Adjective

arable (plural arables)

1. arable

Further reading

• “arable” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Etymology

From Latin arābilis.

Adjective

arable m (oblique and nominative feminine singular arable)

1. arable

Adjective

arable (plural arables)

1. arable