fallow

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfæləʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) enPR: fălʹō, IPA^(key): /ˈfæloʊ/
• Rhymes: -æləʊ

Etymology 1

A fallow field.

From Middle English falwe, from Old English fealh, fealg (“fallow land”), from Proto-West Germanic *falgu (compare Saterland Frisian Falge, West Frisian falig, felling, Dutch valg, German Felge), from Proto-Indo-European *polḱéh₂ (“arable land”) (compare Gaulish olca, Russian полоса́ (polosá)).

Noun

fallow (countable and uncountable, plural fallows)

1. (agriculture, uncountable) Ground ploughed and harrowed but left unseeded for one year.
2. (agriculture, uncountable) Uncultivated land.
3. The ploughing or tilling of land, without sowing it for a season.
   • 1832, Sir John Sinclair, The Code of Agriculture:

     By a complete summer fallow, land is rendered tender and mellow. The fallow gives it a better tilth than can be given by a fallow crop.

Derived terms

• bastard fallow
• cropped fallow
• dead-fallow
• ecofallow
• fallow-break
• fallow chat
• fallow crop
• fallow-field
• fallow finch
• fallow ground
• fallowist
• fallow land
• green fallow
• pin-fallow
• rag-fallow
• summer fallow
• winter fallow

 

Translations

ground left unseeded for a year

• Albanian: djerr (sq)
• Aragonese: güerba f
• Armenian: ցել (hy) (cʻel)
• Bulgarian: у́гар m (úgar)
• Catalan: guaret (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 休耕地 (zh) (xiūgēngdì)

• Czech: úhor (cs) m
• Danish: brak c
• Dutch: dries (nl) m, valg (nl) f, braakland (nl) n, valgeland n
• Esperanto: novalo (eo)
• Estonian: kesa
• Finnish: kesanto (fi)
• French: jachère (fr) f
• Galician: barbeito (gl), rebouza f, coita (gl) f, decoita f, pallagueira f
• German: Grünbrache f, Kulturbrache f, Rotationsbrache f
• Greek:

  Ancient: νειός f (neiós)

• Hungarian: ugar (hu), parlag (hu)
• Irish: branar m
• Italian: maggese (it) m
• Kyrgyz: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: vervactum n
• Latvian: papuve f
• Lithuanian: pūdymas m
• Macedonian: угар m (ugar), прелог m (prelog)
• Maori: pātohe
• Old English: fealg
• Polabian: foľostă
• Polish: ugór (pl) m, odłóg (pl) m
• Portuguese: pousio (pt) m
• Romanian: moină (ro) f
• Russian: пар (ru) m (par)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: у́гар m

  Roman: úgar (sh) m

• Slovak: úhor m, prieloh m
• Slovene: ledina f
• Spanish: barbecho (es), guamil m, barbechada (es) f
• Swedish: träda (sv) c, trädesåker c
• Ukrainian: пар m (par)
• Walloon: djouxhire (wa) f

uncultivated land

• Bulgarian: прелог m (prelog)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 荒地 (zh) (huāngdì)

• Czech: lada n pl, lado n, úhor (cs) m
• Danish: brak-
• Estonian: sööt (et)
• Esperanto: senkulturejo
• Finnish: joutomaa (fi), viljelemätön maa
• French: friche (fr) f
• Galician: bouza (gl) f, mato m, poula f, vougo m, touza (gl) f
• German: Brache (de) f, Brachland (de) n
• Hungarian: ugar (hu), parlag (hu)
• Latvian: papuve f
• Lithuanian: pūdymas m
• Luxembourgish: Brooch f
• Macedonian: угар m (ugar)
• Maori: papatua, pātohe
• Polish: ugór (pl) m, odłóg (pl) m
• Portuguese: terra inculta f
• Russian: пар (ru) m (par)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: у́гар m, па́рлог m

  Roman: úgar (sh) m, párlog (sh) m

• Slovak: prieloh m
• Slovene: ledina f
• Spanish: yermo (es) m
• Walloon: trîxhe (wa) f, trî (wa) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} ugar (sq) m
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} ogor (ro) n
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} úgar (sh) m
• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} úhor m

Adjective

fallow (comparative more fallow, superlative most fallow)

1. (of agricultural land) Ploughed but left unseeded for more than one planting season.
2. (of agricultural land) Left unworked and uncropped for some amount of time.
3. (figurative) Inactive; undeveloped.

   a fallow period in one's career

   • 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 316:

     After two more homeland hits and a fallow two years, Pickettywitch was parked and junked.

Synonyms

• (figuratively inactive): abeyant, dormant, latent; see also Thesaurus:inactive

Derived terms

• apple-fallow
• fallow chat
• fallow finch
• fallowist
• fallowness
• lay fallow
• lie fallow

 

Translations

of land, left unseeded

• Bulgarian: незасят (nezasjat)
• Dutch: braakliggend (nl)
• Finnish: kesannoitu; kesannolla (adverb)
• French: en jachère (fr), en friche (fr)
• German: brach (de), brachliegend (de), unbestellt
• Irish: fódbhán
• Luxembourgish: brooch
• Maori: papatua
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: brakk (no)

  Nynorsk: brakk

• Polish: odłogi, odłogowy

inactive, undeveloped

• Finnish: joutilas (fi), kehittymätön (fi), laiska (fi)
• French: en friche (fr)
• German: brachliegend (de), unproduktiv
• Irish: díomhaoin

Etymology 2

From Middle English falowen, falwen, from Old English fealgian (“to fallow; break up land”), from Proto-West Germanic *falgōn (“to fallow”). Cognate with Dutch valgen (“to plow lightly; fallow”), German Low German falgen (“to till; dig a hole”).

Verb

fallow (third-person singular simple present fallows, present participle fallowing, simple past and past participle fallowed)

1. (transitive) To make land fallow for agricultural purposes.

Derived terms

• fallowed
• fallower
• fallowing
• re-fallow
• summer-fallow
• thry-fallow
• trifallow
• twifallow, twyfallow

 

Translations

plough land without sowing seeds

• Bulgarian: разоравам (bg) (razoravam)
• Finnish: kesannoida
• German: brachlegen
• Italian: maggesare (it)
• Polish: odłogować, ugorować
• Spanish: barbechar (es)

Etymology 3

A fallow deer.

From Middle English falwe, from Old English fealu, from Proto-Germanic *falwaz (compare West Frisian feal, Dutch vaal, German falb, fahl), from Proto-Indo-European *polwos (compare Lithuanian pal̃vas (“sallow, wan”), Russian поло́вый (polóvyj, “wan, light yellow”), Serbo-Croatian plâv (“blond, blue”), Ancient Greek πολιός (poliós, “grey”)), from Proto-Indo-European *pelH- (“pale, gray”).

Adjective

fallow (comparative more fallow, superlative most fallow)

2. Of a pale red or yellow, light brown; dun.

   a fallow deer or greyhound

   fallow:  

   • a. 1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, act 1, scene 1:

     How does your fallow greyhound, sir?

Related terms

• fallow deer

Translations

light brown; dun

• Bulgarian: жълтокафяв (žǎltokafjav)
• Georgian: ღია მოწითალო-ყვითელი (ɣia moc̣italo-q̇viteli), ღია მოყავისფრო-ყვითელი (ɣia moq̇avispro-q̇viteli)
• German: falb, braungelb (de), hellbraun (de)
• Hungarian: kese (hu)
• Irish: donnbhuí
• Old High German: falo
• Polish: płowy (pl)

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “fallow”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.