latifundium

American  

[lat-uh-fuhn-dee-uhm] / ˌlæt əˈfʌn di əm /

noun

Roman History.

plural

latifundia

1. a great estate.

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latifundium British  

/ ˌlætɪˈfʌndɪəm /

noun

1. a large agricultural estate, esp one worked by slaves in ancient Rome

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Etymology

Origin of latifundium

1620–30; < Latin, equivalent to lāt ( us ) wide, broad + -i- -i- + fund ( us ) a piece of land, farm, estate + -ium -ium

Example Sentences

Natural conditions mark out Ireland as a pastoral and cattle-breeding country; and such a country is the destined home of latifundia.

From Project Gutenberg

The situation is scarcely better in parts of the country which are free from latifundia.

From Project Gutenberg

What were really “latifundia” were created, “great landes,” “enclosures of a mile or two or thereabouts ... destroying thereby not only the farms and cottages within the same circuits, but also the towns and villages adjoining.”

From Project Gutenberg

Partly a cause and partly a result of the spread of the latifundia was the decline of the free Italian peasantry.

From Project Gutenberg

It's like the supersession of the small holdings by the latifundia in Italy.

From Project Gutenberg