planter

American  

[plan-ter, plahn-] / ˈplæn tər, ˈplɑn- /

noun

1. a person who plants.

2. an implement or machine for planting seeds in the ground.

3. the owner or manager of a plantation.

4. History/Historical. a colonist or new settler.

5. a decorative container, of a variety of sizes and shapes, for growing flowers or ornamental plants.

---

planter British  

/ ˈplɑːntə /

noun

1. the owner or manager of a plantation

2. a machine designed for rapid, uniform, and efficient planting of seeds in the ground

3. a colonizer or settler

4. a decorative pot or stand for house plants

---

Etymology

Origin of planter

First recorded in 1350–1400, planter is from the Middle English word plaunter. See plant, -er ¹

Example Sentences

As a pure planter, the company is expected to benefit from any rise in crude palm oil prices, she says.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 30, 2025

Work soon began on erecting the towering armature, which is made of 1,800 linear feet of steel tubing and 500 planter boxes.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 24, 2025

“I was trying to take a picture of the beautiful turquoise planter at the end of the pool, but the camera was on me, so I just snapped it,” she later told PEOPLE.

From Salon • Aug. 9, 2025

Ellyanne Wanjiku Chlystun was just four years old when she was motivated to act on the issue with her inspiration coming from Kenya's most-famous tree planter and Nobel laureate, Prof Wangari Maathai.

From BBC • Oct. 15, 2024

Southern colonies did not hesitate to invent ways to extend the terms of servitude, and the planter class accumulated uncultivated lands to restrict the options of free workers.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

• grower
• laborer
• peasant
• producer
• rancher