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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

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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

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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

Public IB maintains an overweight rating on Malaysia’s plantation sector, pegging Sarawak Plantation and TA Ann as preferred picks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 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

After being sold multiple times across state lines, her last owner, a Mississippi plantation owner named Robert Smith moved West to begin a Mormon community in Utah.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

She wore a long white dress like a bride’s and a tiara of sugar flowers made especially for her by the plantation pastry cook.

From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez

In 2013, the couple purchased the Wild Oak Plantation, a 17,000-acre wildlife preserve in northeast Florida, where the Walters now spend most of their time.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

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

After buying Kinloch Plantation, in Georgetown, S.C., for $2.9 million in 1982, he sold it for $18 million in 2025.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2025

I wondered what had happened to Tim Scanlon, so I called his home in Plantation, Florida.

From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos

El Nino is associated with strong drought in Indonesia, where tracts of forest and plantations have been burning in biodiverse Borneo and the South Sumatra region for months.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026

Experts have also pointed to land-clearing practices used to make room for plantations as another factor facilitating the spread of wildfires in Indonesia, with naturally fire-resistant forests replaced by less dense and shaded vegetation.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

The team examined young Macaranga pearsonii trees growing in both logged forests and oil palm plantations.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

I got the roasting heat and the crocodiles and the snakes and the long safaris up-country, selling Shell oil to the men who ran the diamond mines and the sisal plantations.

From "Boy: Tales of a Childhood" by Roald Dahl

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Related Words

• estate
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