arable

[ ar-uh-buhl ]

adjective

1. capable of producing crops; suitable for farming; suited to the plow and for tillage:

   arable land; arable soil.

noun

1. land that can be or is cultivated.

arable

/ ˈærəbəl /

adjective

1. (of land) being or capable of being tilled for the production of crops
2. of, relating to, or using such land

   arable farming

noun

1. arable land or farming

Other Words From

• ara·bili·ty noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of arable¹

1375–1425; < Latin arābilis, equivalent to arā ( re ) to plow + -bilis -ble; replacing late Middle English erable, equivalent to er ( en ) to plow ( Old English erian ) + -able -able

Word History and Origins

Origin of arable¹

C15: from Latin arābilis that can be ploughed, from arāre to plough

Example Sentences

The open data initiative that covered the period between 2018 and 2020, disclosed more forests and arable lands than were previously detected.

From Quartz

Yet in Burkina Faso, arable land and their natural water supplies are drying up at a terrifying rate, making it next to impossible for families that have farmed the earth for generations to feed their children.

From Time

We wanted to look for a more sustainable way of farming with the growing city population, and less arable land.

From Quartz

I wanted to find a more efficient way to use land and resources so that we could let more arable areas remain wild, or to remain lower production but allow for greater biodiversity.

From Singularity Hub 

This was matched by an increasing ability to redirect water supplies and tap into aquifers, helping turn some arid regions into fertile arable land.

From MIT Technology Review

Water, food and arable land will be more scarce, cities more crowded and hunger more widespread.

From The Daily Beast

You will, by accident listening to the show, become an expert-not-really in matters of arable farming, organic crops, and milking.

From The Daily Beast

Extensive tracts of good arable land exist in many parts of the Acadian region.

From Project Gutenberg

Chief among the causes of the misery of the peasants was the extent to which arable land was converted into pasture.

From Project Gutenberg

Reducing more and more that famishing dog-kennel of a Brandenburg into a fruitful arable field.

From Project Gutenberg

The idleness of arable and pasture land is as nothing compared to the idleness of the wide, rolling downs.

From Project Gutenberg

One of these, with the adjacent domain of arable fields and woods, had the name of a villa or manse.

From Project Gutenberg