plantation

¹

[ plan-tey-shuhn ]

noun

1. a large farm or estate in a tropical or semitropical zone, for the cultivation of cotton, tobacco, coffee, sugarcane, etc., typically by enslaved, unpaid, or low-wage resident laborers.
2. a group of planted trees or plants.
3. History/Historical.
   1. a colony or new settlement.
   2. the establishment of a colony or new settlement.
4. Archaic. the planting of seeds, young trees, etc.

adjective

1. (of clothing, furnishings, etc.) suitable for a plantation or for a tropical or semitropical country.

Plantation

²

[ plan-tey-shuhn ]

noun

1. a town in S Florida.

plantation

/ plænˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. an estate, esp in tropical countries, where cash crops such as rubber, oil palm, etc, are grown on a large scale
2. a group of cultivated trees or plants
3. (formerly) a colony or group of settlers
4. rare.
   the planting of seeds, shoots, etc

Other Words From

• plan·tation·like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of plantation¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English plantacioune, from Latin plantātiōn- (stem of plantātiō ) “a planting”; plant (verb), -ation

Example Sentences

Though she labors on the plantation, her father secretly encourages her education and assures her she’ll be freed on her 18th birthday.

From Washington Post

William has taken over those duties since his dad’s strokes and spends two nights a week at the plantation.

From Washington Post

Nestlé, for one, has faced similar scrutiny over child labor on coffee plantations in Brazil where it sources some of its beans.

From Fortune

After the war ended, he headed to Mexico, where he tried to establish a “New Virginia Colony” that would have re-created a version of the South’s plantation slavery and society.

From Washington Post

The film was based on Northup’s own 1853 memoir Twelve Years a Slave, which documented his treatment on the plantation and his eventual freedom and reunion with his family, as well as on input from historians and researchers.

From Time

Hamer married in 1944 and moved with her husband to Ruleville, Miss., where they were sharecroppers on a plantation.

From The Daily Beast

A Colombian coffee plantation teaches a valuable lesson in the fight to keep a dreaded disease from wiping out our favorite brew.

From The Daily Beast

After firing that off, he clumsily asked what a plantation mentality is.

From The Daily Beast

“I think you have more of a plantation mentality than I do,” he said.

From The Daily Beast

Located in northern California, the Plantation Farm Camp takes everything back to the basics.

From The Daily Beast

At another time her affections were deeply engaged by a young gentleman who visited a lady on a neighboring plantation.

From Project Gutenberg

His chief duty on the sugar plantation is to keep the monkeys out of the cane.

From Project Gutenberg

The plantation is divided up into small farms and rented to different workmen.

From Project Gutenberg

Until a few months ago, the boy has lived on a sugar plantation owned by a rich Tagal planter.

From Project Gutenberg

She had herself embroidered them to look like a pair worn by the rich lady whose husband owned the plantation.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• estate
• homestead
• orchard
• ranch