orchard

American  

[awr-cherd] / ˈɔr tʃərd /

noun

• orchards
  plural

1. an area of land devoted to the cultivation of fruit or nut trees.

2. a group or collection of such trees.

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orchard British  

/ ˈɔːtʃəd /

noun

1. an area of land devoted to the cultivation of fruit trees

2. a collection of fruit trees especially cultivated

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• orchards
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of orchard

before 900; Middle English orch ( i ) ard, Old English orceard; replacing ortyard, Middle English ortyerd, Old English ortigeard (compare Gothic aurtigards garden), equivalent to ort- (combining form akin to wort ²; later identified with Latin hortus garden) + geard yard ²

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Explanation

An orchard is a tree garden. If you visit New England in autumn, make sure to stop by a local apple orchard and pick a few baskets to take home. From the Old English orceard blossomed our modern-day spelling of orchard, a noun meaning “fruit farm.” But you can also use the word figuratively to refer to something filled with treats or precious content. The US Congregational minister, Henry Ward Beecher, was famous for having proclaimed, “A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

orchard orchards

There’s something about an apple orchard that’s just suffused with nostalgia, especially if the trees bear heirloom fruits.

From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2026

Dispatches from the orchard front include complaints of apple theft that have required searches at the exits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

The Journal’s Ellen Gamerman details the excruciating delight of a modern day trip to the apple orchard.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

In California’s Sacramento Valley, a grower was cited for multiple pesticide safety violations in a stone fruit orchard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

As food historian Michael Pollan has written, “Virtually every homestead in America had an orchard from which literally thousands of gallons of cider were made every year.”

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler

To keep customers coming, his pub holds ancient wassailing rituals, where hundreds of patrons fire shotguns and throw stones into orchards to ward off evil spirits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026

They leased new Pontiacs and drove into the fruit orchards looking for startup companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Carter's company has more than 1,250 acres of apple orchards in Washington, and the fruit is grown for sliced apple portions – often sold to hotels and schools, for example.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

The main plaza of San Ángel Zurumucapio, surrounded by avocado orchards that have brought prosperity to the town.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026

David has three boys and a girl and still lives in Kibbutz Gan Shmuel, famous for its orchards and its exports of fruit concentrates and tropical fish.

From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson

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Related Words

• garden
• plantation

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