land grant

American  

noun

1. a tract of land given by the government, as for colleges or railroads.

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land grant British  

noun

1. a grant of public land to a college, railway, etc

2. (modifier) designating a state university established with such a grant

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Etymology

Origin of land grant

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

land grant

Bennet Evans Tarlow III was the great-great-grandson of the man who carved out and developed much of this area from an 18th-century Spanish land grant.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025

Marquez’s Mexican ancestors had owned the 6,656-acre land grant rancho that included part of what is now Santa Monica.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2024

Clover features more than 220 online educational activities for students, ages 5 to 18, developed by 4-H’s partners in the Cooperative Extension System and its network of land grant universities.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 13, 2023

Flores and other Californios gathered at an adobe ranch house in Rancho San Pascual, a Mexican land grant that encompassed most of Altadena, Pasadena, South Pasadena and San Marino.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2023

The colony had first settled there under a land grant from the Mexican government, and the man who led the colonization was a priest, and he was a Luna.

From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya