milpa

American  

[mil-puh] / ˈmɪl pə /

noun

1. (in certain tropical regions) a tract of land cleared from the jungle, usually by burning, farmed for a few seasons, and then abandoned.

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Etymology

Origin of milpa

1835–45, < Mexican Spanish < Nahuatl mīlpan, equivalent to mīl ( li ) cultivated field + -pan locative suffix

Example Sentences

One is a giant monoculture Iowa farm, and the other is the milpa, this polyculture system that was the way corn was grown during its rise in Mesoamerica.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 18, 2024

But that need for forest is at odds with hotel companies, industrial cattle ranches and green energy developers who want cheap land and see Maya milpa forest management practices as inefficient.

From Salon • Feb. 26, 2024

As soon as his companion woke up, he would take the animal home, where it helps plow the milpa — rows of corn, beans and squash — on his family’s farm.

From New York Times • May 9, 2023

All of the land is communally owned, divvied up by a town council into small plots where residents practice traditional milpa subsistence agriculture rotating maize, beans, chilis, squash, and agave.

From Slate • Dec. 12, 2016

Contigo la milpa es rancho y el atole champurrado.

From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez