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.
a group of planted trees or plants.
History/Historical.
a colony or new settlement.
the establishment of a colony or new settlement.
Archaic. the planting of seeds, young trees, etc.
an estate, esp in tropical countries, where cash crops such as rubber, oil palm, etc, are grown on a large scale
a group of cultivated trees or plants
(formerly) a colony or group of settlers
rare the planting of seeds, shoots, etc
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English plantacioune, from Latin plantātiōn- (stem of plantātiō ) “a planting”; see plant (verb), -ation
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was unable to train that day because he had not had time to collect his kit after finishing work at a papaya plantation.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
Gloria Terranova, a 59-year-old coffee plantation worker, said she held out hope that Cepeda might still win the presidency despite finishing second in the first round.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
In the 1980s, Turner purchased an 8,000-acre plantation near Tallahassee, Fla., which he eventually expanded to more than 25,000 acres.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
Oil and gas, plantation, and renewable energy stocks could benefit, while contractors may face margin pressure from higher transport and logistics costs, he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
I liked to mention that I was the great-great-granddaughter of a slave named Jim Robinson, who was probably buried in an unmarked grave somewhere on a South Carolina plantation.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
He sold Hope Plantation for $15 million in 2014.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 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
Morris, Pusser visited a saloon called the Plantation Club, run at the time by W.O.
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2025
If I can get training on how to keep everyone back home at Rose Hill Plantation safe, then why shouldn’t I?
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
While plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia have not yet been affected, the risk of a stronger El Nino developing from July or August is rising, it says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Many vicars, bishops, and archbishops are known to have personally managed investments in plantations, and in the South Sea Company, sometimes paying for renovations to churches and cathedrals.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
But the land was fertile, and the Native Americans told of even richer soil to the east, ideal for encomiendas, as large Spanish-ruled plantations exploiting indigenous labor were called.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
Billy hails from a herd in Malaysia that was culled to clear land for palm and rubber plantations, according to the zoo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2026
By now, the husbands who lived on other plantations had come for their Sunday-night visits.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
