orchard

orchard — noun

1. an area planted with rows of fruit or nut trees grown for food

1.nounB2
Definition

an area planted with rows of fruit or nut trees grown for food

Example

We picked apples all morning in the orchard behind Ken's house.

pick fruit in an orchard

A narrow road runs past the pear orchard near the village.

collocation: pear orchard

Common collocations
  • apple orchard
  • pear orchard
  • peach orchard
  • orchard gate
  • orchard rows
Synonyms
  • grove

    can mean a small group or planting of trees, not only fruit trees

  • garden

    broader and usually smaller, and not mainly for rows of crop trees

  • plantation

    more formal and often suggests a larger business growing one crop

  • farm

    much broader, covering the whole property rather than just the tree area

Grammar Patterns

apple orchard

walk through an orchard

work in an orchard

Usage Note

Usually countable. It often follows the kind of tree, as in apple orchard or walnut orchard. Distinguish from garden: an orchard is mainly for growing trees as a crop.

Common Mistakes

We walked through orchard after lunch.
We walked through the orchard after lunch.
Use an article before orchard when you mean one specific place.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For this sense, orchard is the usual word for land planted with fruit or nut trees for harvest. Grove is sometimes similar, but it can also mean a small group of trees growing naturally or a planting of other trees, such as olives. Garden is broader and usually smaller, and it may include flowers, vegetables, and paths, so it does not clearly suggest crop trees in rows. Plantation is more formal and often suggests a large business growing one main crop. Farm is broader still because it can include fields, animals, and buildings. Use orchard when the focus is the tree-growing area itself: We walked through the apple orchard. Use farm when you mean the whole property.

orchard ↗grove ↗garden ↗plantation ↗farm ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • apple orchard
  • pear orchard
  • peach orchard
  • walnut orchard

Phrases

  • walk through an orchard
  • work in an orchard
  • pick fruit in an orchard

Prepositions

  • in an orchard
  • through an orchard

Etymology

LatinOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Orchard came into Middle English from Old English ortgeard. The second part is the same old word that later became yard, and the first part is related to Latin hortus, meaning garden. Over time, English kept orchard as the everyday word for land planted with fruit trees.