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fallow

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(adjective)

A piece of land that is normally used for farming but that is left with no crops on it for a season in order to let it recover its fertility is an example of land that would be described as fallow.

See fallow in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

land plowed but not seeded for one or more growing seasons, to kill weeds, make the soil richer, etc.
the plowing of land to be left idle in this way

Origin: ME falow < OE fealh, akin to fealh, harrow, felly (of wheel) < IE base *pelk-, to turn > Gael olca, fallow land

adjective

left uncultivated or unplanted
untrained; inactive: said esp. of the mind

transitive verb

to leave (land) unplanted after plowing

Origin: ME falwen < OE fealgian < fealh, fallow land; infl. by fealwian, to fade < fealo: see fallow

Related Forms:

fallowness noun

adjective

pale-yellow; brownish-yellow

Origin: ME falwe < OE fealo, akin to Ger fahl, fallow < Gmc *falwa < IE base *pel-, gray, pale > L pallidus

See fallow in American Heritage Dictionary 4

adjective

Plowed but left unseeded during a growing season: fallow farmland.
Characterized by inactivity: a fallow gold market.

noun

Land left unseeded during a growing season.
The act of plowing land and leaving it unseeded.
The condition or period of being unseeded.

transitive verb fal·lowed, fal·low·ing, fal·lows

To plow (land) without seeding it afterward.
To plow and till (land), especially to eradicate or reduce weeds.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English falow

Origin: , from Old English fealh, fallow land

Related Forms:

falˈlow·ness noun

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