arable

Pronunciation: /ˈæɹəbl̩/

The English word “arable” has 3 meanings listed here.

adjective

Of land, able to be plowed or tilled, capable of growing crops (traditionally contrasted with pasturable lands such as heaths).
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).

noun

Land that can be cropped (i.e., land that is arable); land that is being cropped (i.e., land that is in the cropping phase of a crop rotation, currently being cropped rather than used as pasture or fallow).

Etymology

From Middle English arable, from Middle French arable, from Old French arable, from Latin arābilis, formed from arō (“plow”) + -bilis (“able to be”). Cognate with earable (“arable”).

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