orchard
nounattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈɔː.tʃəd//
- United States//ˈɔɹ.t͡ʃɚd//
A garden or an area of land for the cultivation of fruit or nut trees.
noun
- 1
A garden or an area of land for the cultivation of fruit or nut trees.
[…]belts of thin white mist streaked the brown plough land in the hollow where Appleby could see the pale shine of a winding river. Across that in turn, meadow and coppice rolled away past the white walls of a village bowered in orchards,[…]
- 2
The trees themselves cultivated in such an area.
Etymology
From Middle English orchard, orcherd, from Old English orċeard, ortġeard, a compound of *ort (probably from Proto-Germanic *urtiz, a dissimilated variant of Proto-Germanic *wurt- (“wort (plant)”), later incorrectly associated with unrelated Latin hortus (“garden”)) + ġeard (see hortyard and yard, which ironically is etymologically linked with hortus). Cognate with Swedish örtagård (“herb garden”), Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍄𐌹𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐍃 (aurtigards, “orchard”), Old High German orzōn (“to cultivate a field”). Equivalent to wort + yard. More at root.
Forms
- plural
- orchards
orchard · A garden or an area of land for the cultivation of fruit or nut trees.
Orchard · A topographic surname.orchestra · A large group of musicians who play together on various…orchestral · Relating to an orchestra or to music played by an orchestra.