agrarian

adjective

agrar·i·an | \ ə-ˈgrer-ē-ən

Definition of agrarian

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : of or relating to fields or lands or their tenure agrarian landscapes

2a : of, relating to, or characteristic of farmers or their way of life agrarian values

b : organized or designed to promote agricultural interests an agrarian political party

agrarian

noun

Definition of agrarian (Entry 2 of 2)

: a member of an agrarian party or movement (see agrarian entry 1 sense 2b)

Synonyms & Antonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about agrarian

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Synonyms & Antonyms for agrarian

Synonyms: Adjective

agricultural, farming

Antonyms: Adjective

nonagricultural

Did You Know?

Adjective

Today, an acre is generally considered to be a unit of land measuring 43,560 square feet (4,047 square meters). Before that standard was set, it's believed that an acre represented a rougher measurement - the amount of land that could be plowed in one day with a yoke of oxen. Both acre and agrarian, derive from the Latin noun ager and the Greek noun agros, meaning "field." (You can probably guess that agriculture is another descendant.) Agrarian, first used in English in the 16th century, describes things pertaining to the cultivation of fields, as well as the farmers who cultivate them.

Examples of agrarian in a Sentence

Adjective

a town founded in 1811 as an agrarian community

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

These agrarian communities have been ravaged by a decade-long insurgency waged by Boko Haram in Nigeria's northeast. — Aisha Salaudeen And Stephanie Busari, CNN, "Documentary on missing Chibok schoolgirls wins at Venice Film Festival," 8 Sep. 2019 This is why India’s unemployment and agrarian crises did not hurt the BJP’s electoral prospects in May. — Ajay Gudavarthy, Quartz India, "Neoliberalism is killing the very idea of citizenship in India," 2 Sep. 2019 The vanishing agrarian dominance of Midwestern life sets Hauser’s film in motion. — Michael Phillips, chicagotribune.com, "Need a couple of movies to tell you the truth? You’re in luck. They’re coming to Chicago.," 15 Aug. 2019 During more than three decades of breakneck growth and round-the-clock labor, China has transformed from a relatively poor, mainly agrarian nation into the world’s second-largest economy. — Anna Fifield, Washington Post, "In a workaholic China, the stressed-out find a refuge with monks and Sanskrit," 6 Aug. 2019 Down on the farm: Newton Community Farm, the last active link to Newton’s agrarian past, is partnering with Historic Newton on Tuesday to lead a walking tour of the real estate that has been in continuous agricultural use for more than 300 years. — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, "To cope with the heat, add ice cream," 4 Aug. 2019 Europe itself is far too socialistic and highly taxed — and for notorious historic reasons is much too afraid of working-class and agrarian unrest — to have a seriously free and competitive market economy. — Conrad Black, National Review, "A Strong U.S. Needs a Strong U.K.," 11 July 2019 Italy has had the most success tapping into an interest in agrarian life to support its working and defunct farms with the agriturismo or farm-stay model, launched in the 1960s. — Liz Tracy, Vox, "How are small farms surviving? Airbnb.," 11 July 2019 Until 1944, when the gold standard was established (at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire!), the country was pretty agrarian and designed by the Brits as a place for fun. — Scott Haas, BostonGlobe.com, "How to afford a trip to expensive Switzerland," 6 Aug. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Closing the forts frustrated foreclosure proceedings; moreover, for Shay’s enraged agrarians, the courts were a tangible symbol of the eastern moneyed interest and of a government unresponsive to their needs. — Thomas Wendel, National Review, "The Beginning of a Nation," 4 July 2019 Southern agrarians disdained capitalism; Peter Viereck spent his time lecturing Americans on the virtues of Metternich and that great homegrown Tory, FDR. — Richard Brookhiser, National Review, "Moving Portrait," 4 June 2019 There are the populares of Ancient Rome, the agrarians of nineteenth-century Wisconsin, and the Peronists of twentieth-century Argentina. — Yascha Mounk, New Republic, "What the rise of populist movements means for democracy.," 19 July 2017 Jefferson, an agrarian, generally opposed a strong central government. — Jonathan W. White, Smithsonian, "Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr and the American Way of Treason," 17 Mar. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'agrarian.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.