arable

[ar-uh-buh l] /ˈær ə bəl/
adjective
1.
capable of producing crops; suitable for farming; suited to the plow and for tillage:
arable land; arable soil.
noun
2.
land that can be or is cultivated.
Origin
1375-1425; < Latin arābilis, equivalent to arā(re) to plow + -bilis -ble; replacing late Middle English erable, equivalent to er(en) to plow (Old English erian) + -able -able
Related forms
arability, noun
Examples from the web for arable
  • About 28% of the land is arable.
  • Farmers also grow vegetables and other produce on land made arable by the oasis water supply and underground streams.
  • Save the arable land for food.
  • Agriculture is limited with only 20% of the land being arable.
  • The dam will increase the amount of land arable all the year round by over one-third.
  • But now they're also giving away their arable land for nearly nothing.
  • If such ancient water can be located in other areas, arid land can readily made arable and fecund.
  • Wars could also come from multi-country desertification, or salt damage of low-lying arable land.
  • Environmental regulations, water scarcities and urban development continue to cut back arable acreage.
  • The increasing population increasingly occupies what was once productive arable land.
British Dictionary definitions for arable

arable

/ˈærəbəl/
adjective
1.
(of land) being or capable of being tilled for the production of crops
2.
of, relating to, or using such land: arable farming
noun
3.
arable land or farming
Word Origin
C15: from Latin arābilis that can be ploughed, from arāre to plough
Word Origin and History for arable
adj.

early 15c., "suitable for plowing" (as opposed to pasture- or wood-land), from Old French arable (12c.), from Latin arabilis, from arare "to plow," from PIE *are- "to plow" (cf. Greek aroun, Old Church Slavonic orja, Lithuanian ariu "to plow;" Gothic arjan, Old English erian, Middle Irish airim, Welsh arddu "to plow;" Old Norse arþr "a plow"). Replaced by late 18c. native erable, from Old English erian "to plow," from the same PIE source.