agrarian
Americanadjective
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relating to land, land tenure, or the division of landed property.
agrarian laws.
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pertaining to the advancement of agricultural groups.
an agrarian movement.
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composed of or pertaining to farmers.
an agrarian co-op.
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rural; agricultural.
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growing in fields; wild.
an agrarian plant.
noun
adjective
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of or relating to land or its cultivation or to systems of dividing landed property
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of or relating to rural or agricultural matters
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of agrarian
1610–20; < Latin agrāri ( us ) ( agr- stem of ager field, acre + -ārius -ary ) + -an; cf. agrestal
Explanation
Use the word agrarian to describe something related to fields, farming, or rural matters. The school calendar is still based on the old agrarian calendar, when children needed to be off during the summer to help with planting and harvesting. The adjective agrarian comes from the Latin root word ager, meaning a field, but the word's meaning has expanded to include anything rural or farm-related. "The senator, who represented mostly agrarian communities, spent most of her time working on issues of interest to farmers. She lobbied to stabilize the price of corn and milk, fought for subsidies for working farms, and presented ribbons to the prized pig at the county fair."
Vocabulary lists containing agrarian
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Down on the Farm
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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.
This framework also helps explain why agrarian societies, which normally benefit from living spread out, sometimes gathered in cities despite the financial and social costs.
From Science Daily • Nov. 26, 2025
Famed for its farming, cheeses and wine, this hilly, rural countryside feels cut off from modernity: an agrarian past perfectly preserved in an uncertain present.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2025
The books depict events from the Civil War to the present, moving among an assortment of characters from the agrarian region’s closely intertwined families.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025
The agrarian rebellion of the 1880s and 1890s was led by farmers at a time when literacy was far from universal and rural areas were incredibly isolated by today’s standards.
From Salon • Aug. 24, 2025
Nevertheless, the Populist movement initially enjoyed remarkable success in the South, fueled by a wave of discontent aroused by the severe agrarian depression of the 1880s and 1890s.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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.
