adjective
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owning land
landed gentry
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consisting of or including land
a landed estate
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of landed
before 1000; late Middle English ( see land, -ed 3); replacing Old English gelandod (rare), past participle of *landian to endow with land ( -ed 2 )
Explanation
If someone is landed, it means they own property or acreage, and they probably inherited it. In 17th and 18th century England, owners of country estates were known as the landed gentry. This adjective almost always comes before "gentry" or "aristocracy," referring to an entire category of wealthy people. It's a bit old-fashioned, but you can still call use it for upper-class land owners. Your cousin, lucky enough to have the family estate handed down to him, is a member of the landed gentry. Landed can also describe the land itself, when someone inherits it: "The landed property was about fifty acres."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Many CEOs have landed big deals and not all have delivered the goods, which can ultimately put more pressure on management.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026
In some of those pockets, homelessness and street crime are the most salient issues facing the city, and Pratt’s apocalyptic talk about them landed as a tonic.
From Slate • Jun. 9, 2026
At 8 a.m. on Memorial Day, I boarded a plane in Kentucky after a family visit and landed at O’Hare two hours later.
From Salon • Jun. 9, 2026
The lander touched down on Mars on Christmas Day 2003, but, due to a communications error, it was considered lost until January 2015, when it was confirmed that it had actually landed successfully.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
Dr. Thatcher dived for one of the cats, missed, and landed face first in the mashed potatoes.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
