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

Wilson, the son of North Carolina sharecroppers, became one of the first Black reporters on air in Los Angeles in 1969.

From Los Angeles Times

The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 allowed white landowners to keep government benefit payments instead of passing them onto Black sharecroppers who were actually farming the land.

From Salon

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

From Seattle Times

That gave companies better proximity to the cotton crop, often harvested by formerly enslaved people now working as poorly paid sharecroppers.

From Seattle Times

"I come from a proud line of sharecroppers and cowboys. My grandfather was buried in his cowboy boots," she shares.

From BBC

Related Words

• grower
• laborer
• peasant
• producer
• rancher