adjective
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owning land
landed gentry
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consisting of or including land
a landed estate
Other Word 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.
The Iranian aircraft later landed in Hodeidah, another Houthi-controlled city on Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
The vehicle turned over and landed on its roof on the sidewalk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
He landed on the injury list in late May after playing in just two games following offseason surgery on his left elbow.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
About 300 of them landed in the Lanarkshire town of Hamilton in June 1940 and were subsequently directed to Dumfries.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
A small monkey with a long skinny tail dropped down from a branch directly above me and landed right on top of my head.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
