orchard

Etymology

From Middle English orchard, orcherd, from Old English orċeard, ortġeard, a compound of *ort (probably from Proto-Germanic *urtiz, a dissimilated variant of Proto-Germanic *wurt- (“wort (plant)”), later associated with Latin hortus (“garden”)) + ġeard (see yard). Cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍄𐌹𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐍃 (aurtigards, “orchard”), Old High German orzōn (“to cultivate a field”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː(ɹ).tʃəd/, /ˈɔː(ɹ).tʃɜː(ɹ)d/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

orchard (plural orchards)

1. A garden or an area of land for the cultivation of fruit or nut trees.
   • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict‎:

     […] belts of thin white mist streaked the brown plough land in the hollow where Appleby could see the pale shine of a winding river. Across that in turn, meadow and coppice rolled away past the white walls of a village bowered in orchards, […]

2. The trees themselves cultivated in such an area.