glebe

[ gleeb ]

noun

1. Also called glebe land. Chiefly British. the cultivable land owned by a parish church or ecclesiastical benefice.
2. Archaic. soil; field.

glebe

/ ɡliːb /

noun

1. land granted to a clergyman as part of his benefice
2. poetic.
   land, esp when regarded as the source of growing things

Other Words From

• glebe·less adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of glebe¹

1275–1325; Middle English < Latin glēba, glaeba clod of earth

Word History and Origins

Origin of glebe¹

C14: from Latin glaeba

Example Sentences

And, of all the yokes, is not that of the glebe the heaviest, which forbids them to cross the boundaries of their own seigniory.

From Project Gutenberg

When the Church will say to those myriads of people, chained down to the glebe: 'Go!

From Project Gutenberg

Another note was sent to the Glebe, requesting the Rector to come to breakfast and to look at the hounds being thrown off.

From Project Gutenberg

On the following day, very soon after three, she pushed the bell outside Garstin's studio door in Glebe Place.

From Project Gutenberg

Nevertheless he was decidedly curious about the good-looking stranger who had been seen in Glebe Place.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• clay
• coast
• dirt
• dust
• gravel
• land
• mud
• sand
• shore
• surface
• terrain
• turf