ranch English · revision 10443

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1808|origins=es rancho}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɹɑːnt͡ʃ/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɹænt͡ʃ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from American Spanish rancho, a small farm, group of farm huts,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from Spanish rancho, earlier a mess-room, a group of people who eat together,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) from ranchar, ranchear, to lodge or station, from Old French ranger, to put in position, from rang, a row, line (see [[rank]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) of Germanic origin.^(Etymonline) The earlier form in English was rancheria (about 1600).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A hut or house in the country: 1808, in American English.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A farm for raising animals or crops is from 1831,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and a large stock farm by 1847.^(Etymonline) In Spanish America the rancho was a herding operation, distinct from the hacienda, a cultivated farm.^(Etymonline) A farm for a particular crop or animal, as a mink ranch, is from 1865.^(OED 1989) The verb is from 1866, in Bret Harte,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and ''rancher'' from 1836, perhaps influenced by American Spanish ranchero.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Ranch-house'' is from 1862, and by 1947 the name of a long, low, single-storey suburban house.^(Etymonline) ''Meanwhile, back at the ranch'' is by 1957.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1600 – rancheria.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1808 – a country house.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1831 – a stock farm.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1836 – rancher.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1866 – to ranch (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1947 – ranch-style house.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large farm, especially in the western United States, for raising cattle, sheep or horses.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A farm for raising a particular crop or animal: ''a mink ranch''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A ranch house; a single-storey house.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To run or work on a ranch.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To raise animals on a ranch.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ranchless]]

+ * [[ranchlike]]

+ * [[rancher]]

+ * [[ranchette]]

+ * [[ranchman]]

+ * [[dude ranch]]

+ * [[raised ranch]]

+ * [[ranch dressing]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rancho]]

+ * [[rank]]

+ * [[range]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A different ranch, to scratch or tear, a nasalized form of race, survives in Northamptonshire and East Anglian dialect.^(SOED 2002)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}