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swidden

[ swid-n ]
/ ˈswɪd n /
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noun
a plot of land cleared for farming by burning away vegetation.
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Origin of swidden

1951; special use of dial. (N England) swidden area of moor from which vegetation has been burned off, noun use of swidden, swithen to singe <Old Norse svithna to be singed, derivative of svītha to singe (compare dial. swithe,Middle English swithen)

Words nearby swidden

swerve, sweven, Sweyn, SWFF, S.W.G., swidden, swift, Swift Current, swifter, swift-footed, swift fox
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

British Dictionary definitions for swidden

swidden
/ (ˈswɪdən) /
noun
  1. an area of land where slash-and-burn techniques have been used to prepare it for cultivation
  2. (as modifier)small-scale swidden agriculture

Word Origin for swidden

C18: Northern English dialect variant of swithen to burn
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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