latifundio

[ lat-uh-fuhn-dee-oh, -foon-; Spanish lah-tee-foon-dyaw ]

noun

, plural la·ti·fun·di·os [lat-, uh, -, fuhn, -dee-ohz, -, foon, -, lah-tee-, foon, -dyaws].

1. a great estate of Latin America or Spain.

Word History and Origins

Origin of latifundio¹

1920–25; < Spanish < Latin lātifundium latifundium

Example Sentences

Brazil’s chief of strategic affairs, Maynard Santa Rosa, recently called the Amazon “an unproductive latifúndio” — a big, unfarmed estate — that needed to be developed for agriculture, mining and logging.

From Washington Post