Arable
[ER-ə-bəl]
Part of speech: adjective
Origin: Middle French, 15th century
1.
(of land) used or suitable for growing crops.
Examples of Arable in a sentence
"The land at the back of the house is arable and ready for crops to be planted."
"This county has twice as much arable land as its neighbors, which is why we have so many farms."
About Arable
From the French “arable,” it’s based on the Latin “arābilis,” meaning “capable of being plowed.”
Did you Know?
The amount of arable land — land suitable for growing crops — around the world has actually been growing over the past 50 years. As of 2019, the World Bank reported that 10.8% of the world’s land area was arable, up from 10% in 1972. Thirty years ago, the percentage of arable land around the world was 10.6% — meaning the world has only gained 0.2% of arable land area since that time, due to brief declines in the 1990s and 2000s caused partly by expanding cities and urban sprawl absorbing farmland.
