agricultural

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌæɡ.rɪˈkʌl.tʃər.əl/, /ˌæɡ.rəˈkʌl.tʃər.əl/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English agriculture + -al.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to farming: 1661 in MWU and the Historical Thesaurus;^[3][4] 1766 in Etymonline, and 1776 in the OED and MW Collegiate.^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

The sense has stayed close to agriculture, the tilling of the ground and raising of livestock; the Historical Thesaurus notes an occasional wider sense, of or characteristic of the country.^[4] The agricultural ant, a species of North American harvesting ant, is named from 1868.^[5] In cricket slang an agricultural stroke is a clumsy, slogging shot, as if made with a scythe, from 1937 in the OED,^[5][7] and the Historical Thesaurus dates the sense to 1899.^[4] In British slang, to do an agricultural is to relieve oneself in the open.^[8]

Timeline

• 1661 – of or relating to agriculture.^[3][4]
• 1766 – in Etymonline's first date.^[2]
• 1868 – agricultural ant.^[5]
• 1899 – a clumsy stroke in cricket.^[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or used in agriculture: agricultural land.
2. Engaged in farming as the main occupation.
3. (British informal) In sport, especially cricket, of a stroke or player: clumsy, slogging.

Word family

• agriculturally
• nonagricultural
• preagricultural
• unagricultural

Related words

• agriculture
• agrarian
• acre
• culture
• cultivate

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
8. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com