agrarian

[ uh-grair-ee-uh n ]

/ əˈgrɛər i ən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR agrarian ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

relating to land, land tenure, or the division of landed property: agrarian laws.

pertaining to the advancement of agricultural groups: an agrarian movement.

composed of or pertaining to farmers: an agrarian co-op.

rural; agricultural.

growing in fields; wild: an agrarian plant.

noun

a person who favors the equal division of landed property and the advancement of agricultural groups.

Nearby words

Origin of agrarian

1610–20; < Latin agrāri(us) (agr- stem of ager field, acre + -ārius -ary) + -an; cf. agrestal

Related forms

a·grar·i·an·ly, adverbnon·a·grar·i·an, adjective, nounpro·a·grar·i·an, adjectivesu·per·a·grar·i·an, adjective

un·a·grar·i·an, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for agrarian

And in Agrarian Justice, he proposed taxing the landed rich to provide grants to young people and pensions to the elderly.
Palin's Unlikely Hero|Harvey J. Kaye|November 17, 2009|DAILY BEAST
This policy would have put Roosevelt in the same general category of agrarian reform as Stalin and Mao Tse-tung.
Why The Right Should Leave FDR Alone|Conrad Black|October 22, 2008|DAILY BEAST
Texas, with the territorial dimensions of an empire, answered the agrarian needs of the slave system.
William Lloyd Garrison|Archibald H. Grimke
The error contained in this sermon determined me to publish my Agrarian Justice.
The Writings Of Thomas Paine, Volume III.|Thomas Paine

Their task was made easy by the habits of conspiracy formed among the peasantry in the agrarian war.
Irish History and the Irish Question|Goldwin Smith
In the agrarian legends of Iasion and Erysichthon, Demeter also plays an important part.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 10|Various
Besides these recitals in Acts of Parliament, we have other glimpses of the causes of agrarian distress.
A History of Epidemics in Britain (Volume I of II)|Charles Creighton

British Dictionary definitions for agrarian

agrarian

/ (əˈɡrɛərɪən) /

adjective

of or relating to land or its cultivation or to systems of dividing landed property

of or relating to rural or agricultural matters

noun

a person who favours the redistribution of landed property

Derived Formsagrarianism, noun

Word Origin for agrarian

C16: from Latin agrārius, from ager field, land

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for agrarian

agrarian

adj.

1610s, "relating to the land," from Middle French loy agrarienne "agrarian law," from Latin Lex agraria, the Roman law for the division of conquered lands, from agrarius "of the land," from ager (genitive agri) "a field," from PIE *agro- (cf. Greek agros "field," Gothic akrs, Old English æcer "field;" see acre). Meaning "having to do with cultivated land" first recorded 1792.