landless

[land-lis]

adjective

1. without landed property; not owning land.

   a landless noble.

Other Word Forms

• landlessness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of landless¹

before 1000; Middle English; Old English landlēas. See land, -less

Example Sentences

Many Nama are landless and live in informal settlements with inadequate access to water and electricity, or in remote areas, far from schools and hospitals.

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“For generations, our people have faced significant hardships, including the loss of our ancestral lands, making us one of the few landless Indian tribes in the United States,” Gonzalez said by email.

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The Havasupai Tribe was landless for a time until the federal government set aside a plot in the depths of the Grand Canyon for members.

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The Gabrieleño tribes, however, are among roughly two dozen unrecognized and landless tribes in California that have initiated petitions for federal recognition by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs.

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Starting in 2000, a few thousand white commercial farmers were forced off their land, which was then redistributed to tens of thousands of landless Black farmers.

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