sharecropper

[ shair-krop-er ]

noun

1. a tenant farmer who pays as rent a share of the crop.

sharecropper

/ ˈʃɛəˌkrɒpə /

noun

1. a farmer, esp a tenant farmer, who pays over a proportion of a crop or crops as rent

Word History and Origins

Origin of sharecropper¹

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15; share ¹ + cropper

Example Sentences

Esther Rolle, a sharecropper’s daughter who grew up to become a respected actress and role model for other blacks, has died.

From Los Angeles Times

Hamer, a former sharecropper and a leader of the racially integrated Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, objected to the seating of an all-white Mississippi delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

From Salon

Was that influenced by the two years you spent as a tobacco sharecropper in North Carolina?

From Seattle Times

Delia Pettway Thibodeaux is a third-generation Gee’s Bend quilter whose grandmother was a sharecropper and whose bold, rhythmic quilts are now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s permanent collection.

From Seattle Times

The son of a sharecropper and great-grandson of a Georgia slave, Thurmond became an attorney and has served for decades in state and local government.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• grower
• laborer
• peasant
• producer
• rancher