husbandry
Americannoun
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the cultivation and production of edible crops or of animals for food; agriculture; farming.
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the science of raising crops or food animals.
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careful or thrifty management; frugality, thrift, or conservation.
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the management of domestic affairs or of resources generally.
noun
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farming, esp when regarded as a science, skill, or art
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management of affairs and resources
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of husbandry
First recorded in 1250–1300, husbandry is from the Middle English word housebondrie. See husband, -ry
Explanation
Husbandry has nothing to do with being a husband, and a lot to do with being a farmer. If you cultivate the land or breed animals, you are practicing husbandry. Long before husbands were hen-pecked guys who cut the grass on weekends and played with the kiddies after school, they were robust men of the Earth — farmers, in other words. That meaning died out, but its current meaning survives as a remnant of it. Today, you most often hear of "crop husbandry", which refers to raising crops; however, if you practice toad husbandry — you must be raising toads.
Vocabulary lists containing husbandry
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Down on the Farm
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "H"
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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 meant the industry operated for decades with no rules on humane husbandry and slaughter.
From Barron's • Jun. 28, 2026
Young animals are especially vulnerable as the umbilical cord and wounds from typical husbandry practices such as castration are prime sites for infestation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
As a result, even veterinarians may rely on the husbandry guidelines developed by the community of serious crab keepers.
From Slate • Aug. 19, 2025
"Standards in the fur sector are among the highest of any form of animal husbandry with rigorous and comprehensive animal welfare standards, third-party inspection and strict international and national laws," it said.
From BBC • Jun. 15, 2025
They express in visible form the sense of tradition, of family or clan continuity, that sets off the settled life of husbandry from the roving existence of the hunter.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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.
