orchard

From Middle English orchard, orcherd, from Old English orċeard, ortġeard, a compound of *ort (probably from Proto-Germanic *urtiz, a dissimilated variant of Proto-Germanic *wurt- (“wort (plant)”), later incorrectly associated with Latin hortus (“garden”)) + ġeard (see yard). Cognate with Swedish örtagård (“herb garden”), Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍄𐌹𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐍃 (aurtigards, “orchard”), Old High German orzōn (“to cultivate a field”). Equivalent to wort +‎ yard. More at root.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.tʃəd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔɹ.t͡ʃɚd/

• Audio (US)

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• Hyphenation: or‧chard

orchard (plural orchards)

1. A garden or an area of land for the cultivation of fruit or nut trees.

   Synonyms: grove, plantation, woodlet

   • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict‎:

     […] belts of thin white mist streaked the brown plough land in the hollow where Appleby could see the pale shine of a winding river. Across that in turn, meadow and coppice rolled away past the white walls of a village bowered in orchards, […]

2. The trees themselves cultivated in such an area.

• Darroch