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• plantation
  plantation

  noun

  a large farm or estate in a tropical or semitropical zone, for the cultivation of cotton, tobacco, coffee, sugarcane, etc., typically by enslaved, unpaid, or low-wage resident laborers.
• Plantation
  Plantation

  noun

  a town in S Florida.

plantation

¹ American  

[plan-tay-shuhn] / plænˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

• plantations
  plural

1. a large farm or estate in a tropical or semitropical zone, for the cultivation of cotton, tobacco, coffee, sugarcane, etc., typically by enslaved, unpaid, or low-wage resident laborers.

2. a group of planted trees or plants.

3. History/Historical.

   1. a colony or new settlement.

   2. the establishment of a colony or new settlement.

4. Archaic. the planting of seeds, young trees, etc.

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adjective

1. (of clothing, furnishings, etc.) suitable for a plantation or for a tropical or semitropical country.

Plantation ² American  

[plan-tay-shuhn] / plænˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

1. a town in S Florida.

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plantation British  

/ plænˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. an estate, esp in tropical countries, where cash crops such as rubber, oil palm, etc, are grown on a large scale

2. a group of cultivated trees or plants

3. (formerly) a colony or group of settlers

4. rare the planting of seeds, shoots, etc

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• plantationlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• plantations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of plantation

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English plantacioune, from Latin plantātiōn- (stem of plantātiō ) “a planting”; see plant (verb), -ation

Explanation

A plantation is a large agricultural property dedicated to planting a few crops on a large scale. If you dream of having 3,000 acres to raise cucumbers on, then you have dreams of a cucumber plantation. Plantation doesn't have to only mean massive single-product farms. A small grove of trees is also called a plantation, but usually when we use the word we mean the big farms. In the United States prior to the Civil War, crops like cotton and tobacco were grown on plantations in the South by exploiting the labor of enslaved people. In Latin America, many international companies own banana and coffee plantations.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

plantation Plantation plantations

Mama Man and her baby, Man, had been monitored by animal rescuers since June, when they were found living in a plantation area adjacent to a small patch of forest.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

However, regulatory uncertainty in Indonesia could remain a concern for plantation companies with significant exposure, including SD Guthrie, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Genting Plantations, he notes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

Oil palm plantations and other plantation forestry are also widespread in the region.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 6, 2026

The orangutan pair had been under observation since July after being spotted in a plantation area near a forest in West Kalimantan, a local natural resources conservation agency said in a statement.

From Barron's ● Sep. 5, 2026

I shall write sonatas en trio; and Slant perhaps shall be proprietor of his own plantation.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Long lives with his wife and nine children in Pecan Plantation, a community that could neighbor one of the county’s proposed data centers.

From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026

He then transferred to a prep school in Plantation, American Heritage, where he ran track and prepared to catch passes from a marquee quarterback.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026

Though Coe failed to shake up country music at that time, he would still release singles under Singleton’s Nashville-based record company, Plantation Records.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026

Matthew Saneholtz, chief investment officer and senior wealth adviser at Tobias Financial Advisors in Plantation, Fla., told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2025

Plantation owners were suddenly destitute, and state governments, shackled by war debt, were penniless.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Public IB maintains an overweight rating on Malaysian plantations, pegging Sarawak Plantation and TA Ann as top picks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Plants growing in oil palm plantations were much more likely to contain wasps than those found in logged forest.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

Beyond the fort, roughly 100 plantations were worked by around 270 European planters and an enslaved population of about 5,000 people, up and down the Berbice River in present-day Guyana, she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

"The peat is drained by extractive plantations, monoculture plantations, whether oil palm or pulpwood," Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Belgis Habiba told AFP in Pontianak.

From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026

He victuals himself and his little army by sending out small sail with landing parties to seize upon such provisions as are necessary—flesh and fowl—from rebel farms and plantations.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Related Words

• estate
• homestead
• orchard
• ranch