fallow

¹ American  

[fal-oh] / ˈfæl oʊ /

adjective

1. (of land) plowed and left unseeded for a season or more; uncultivated.

2. not in use; inactive.

   My creative energies have lain fallow this year.

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noun

1. land that has undergone plowing and harrowing and has been left unseeded for one or more growing seasons.

verb (used with object)

1. to make (land) fallow for agricultural purposes.

fallow ² American  

[fal-oh] / ˈfæl oʊ /

adjective

1. pale-yellow; light-brown; dun.

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fallow ¹ British  

/ ˈfæləʊ /

adjective

1. (of land) left unseeded after being ploughed and harrowed to regain fertility for a crop

2. (of an idea, state of mind, etc) undeveloped or inactive, but potentially useful

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noun

1. land treated in this way

verb

1. (tr) to leave (land) unseeded after ploughing and harrowing it

fallow ² British  

/ ˈfæləʊ /

adjective

1. of a light yellowish-brown colour

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Other Word Forms

• fallowness noun
• unfallowed adjective

Etymology

Origin of fallow¹

1275–1325; Middle English falwe; compare Old English fealga, plural of *fealh, as gloss of Medieval Latin occas harrows

Origin of fallow²

before 1000; Middle English fal ( o ) we, Old English fealu; cognate with German falb

Explanation

Something that is fallow is left unused. If you’re smart but lazy, someone might say you have a fallow mind. We use the word to talk about any unused resource, it started as a work about land. Fallow comes from the old English word for plowing, and refers to the practice of leaving fields unplowed in rotation — when a field lies fallow, the soil regains nutrients that are sucked up by over-planting.

Example Sentences

In France alone, about 300,000 hectares of land once used for cereal farming has been left fallow or abandoned since 2022, he said.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

To reduce water use and comply with the groundwater law, Arvin-Edison is starting to buy some farmland and leave the fields fallow.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2026

In recent decades—since the 1970s—the Broadway musical has waxed and waned in terms of both quality and popularity, with fertile and fallow periods.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

Good news for cows, bad news for music fans: Glastonbury takes a fallow year in 2026.

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2025

In Europe and Asia, farmers try to avoid stressing the soil by rotating crops; they may plant wheat one year, legumes the next, and let the field lie fallow in the year following.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann