orchard

American  

[awr-cherd] / ˈɔr tʃərd /

noun

• orchards
  plural

1. an area of land devoted to the cultivation of fruit or nut trees.

2. a group or collection of such trees.

---

orchard British  

/ ˈɔːtʃəd /

noun

1. an area of land devoted to the cultivation of fruit trees

2. a collection of fruit trees especially cultivated

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• orchards
  plural

Etymology

Origin of orchard

before 900; Middle English orch ( i ) ard, Old English orceard; replacing ortyard, Middle English ortyerd, Old English ortigeard (compare Gothic aurtigards garden), equivalent to ort- (combining form akin to wort ²; later identified with Latin hortus garden) + geard yard ²

Explanation

An orchard is a tree garden. If you visit New England in autumn, make sure to stop by a local apple orchard and pick a few baskets to take home. From the Old English orceard blossomed our modern-day spelling of orchard, a noun meaning “fruit farm.” But you can also use the word figuratively to refer to something filled with treats or precious content. The US Congregational minister, Henry Ward Beecher, was famous for having proclaimed, “A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

orchard orchards

"It's gut-wrenching," says Kimberly Jones of Honey's Cider near Bath, whose orchard has produced only a 10th of its normal amount of apples.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

"We would normally harvest 20-30 tonnes of apples here," he tells me, walking through one orchard.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Kazaryan planted his orchard in 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union when farmland was distributed to private owners.

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

He and his wife, Maxi Case, have 3,600 cherry trees on 25 acres at Villa del Sol, which their website says is the largest U-pick cherry orchard in Southern California.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026

Up at first light, I stepped out on the porch and stared across the yard, out at the fields, the orchard, and beyond.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

Neil MacDonald, who manages more than 1,000 acres of Somerset orchards, says he has watched half his apples fall before they have ripened, because the trees are stressed by the drought.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

But irrigation for hundreds of acres of cider orchards is "just not viable", he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

In the mango-growing heartland of Tando Allahyar, Mohammad Shakeel manages orchards that grow the golden-yellow Sindhri variety, named after the province where it flourishes and famous for its rich flavour and juicy pulp.

From Barron's ● Jun. 21, 2026

Lopez will have ample opportunity to enjoy the verdant surroundings in Hidden Hills, courtesy of her new home’s “lushly landscaped private grounds,” which include “spectacular orchards with multiple fruit trees,” as well as staggering views.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026

Then in the Clarkston area of Washington the insects became refractory — they were harder to kill than in the orchards of the Wenatchee and Yakima valleys and elsewhere.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

Related Words

• garden
• plantation