plantation

¹

[plan-tey-shuhn]

noun

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.

adjective

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

Plantation

²

[plan-tey-shuhn]

noun

1. a town in S Florida.

plantation

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• plantationlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of plantation¹

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

Example Sentences

In their hands, the reformed financial system allowed capital to flow to these constituents on better terms, making possible new farms and plantations.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Nor was the tendency to justify slavery on racial grounds any less widespread among elite Muslims than it became among plantation owners in the American South.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In it, Deen visits a plantation that was once owned by a distant ancestor of hers named Billy.

Read more on Salon

Although the study focused on one forest in Northern California, it has implications across the Western U.S., where this kind of “plantation”-style logging is common.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Skyrocketing demand has driven massive, industrial palm oil plantations into millions of acres of formerly lush rainforest habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia, worsening climate change and causing widespread human rights violations.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• estate 
• homestead 
• orchard 
• ranch