Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Land

Land

(lănd)
,
Noun.
Urine. See
Lant
.
[Obs.]

Land

,
Noun.
[AS.
land
,
lond
; akin to D., G., Icel., Sw., Dan., and Goth.
land
. ]
1.
The solid part of the surface of the earth; – opposed to water as constituting a part of such surface, especially to oceans and seas;
as, to sight
land
after a long voyage
.
They turn their heads to sea, their sterns to
land
.
Dryden.
2.
Any portion, large or small, of the surface of the earth, considered by itself, or as belonging to an individual or a people, as a country, estate, farm, or tract.
Go view the
land
, even Jericho.
Josh. ii. 1.
Ill fares the
land
, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay.
Goldsmith.
☞ In the expressions “to be, or dwell, upon land,” “to go, or fare, on land,” as used by Chaucer, land denotes the country as distinguished from the town.
A poor parson dwelling upon
land
[i.e., in the country].
Chaucer.
3.
Ground, in respect to its nature or quality; soil;
as, wet
land
; good or bad
land
.
4.
The inhabitants of a nation or people.
These answers, in the silent night received,
The king himself divulged, the
land
believed.
Dryden.
5.
The mainland, in distinction from islands.
6.
The ground or floor.
[Obs.]
Herself upon the
land
she did prostrate.
Spenser.
7.
(Agric.)
The ground left unplowed between furrows; any one of several portions into which a field is divided for convenience in plowing.
8.
(Law)
Any ground, soil, or earth whatsoever, as meadows, pastures, woods, etc., and everything annexed to it, whether by nature, as trees, water, etc., or by the hand of man, as buildings, fences, etc.; real estate.
Kent. Bouvier. Burrill.
9.
(Naut.)
The lap of the strakes in a clinker-built boat; the lap of plates in an iron vessel; – called also
landing
.
Knight.
10.
In any surface prepared with indentations, perforations, or grooves, that part of the surface which is not so treated, as the level part of a millstone between the furrows, or the surface of the bore of a rifled gun between the grooves.
Land agent
,
a person employed to sell or let land, to collect rents, and to attend to other money matters connected with land.
–
Land boat
,
a vehicle on wheels propelled by sails.
–
Land blink
,
a peculiar atmospheric brightness seen from sea over distant snow-covered land in arctic regions. See
Ice blink
.
–
Land breeze
.
See under
Breeze
.
–
Land chain
.
See
Gunter’s chain
.
–
Land crab
(Zool.)
,
any one of various species of crabs which live much on the land, and resort to the water chiefly for the purpose of breeding. They are abundant in the West Indies and South America. Some of them grow to a large size.
–
Land fish
a fish on land; a person quite out of place.
Shak.
–
Land force
,
a military force serving on land, as distinguished from a naval force.
–
Land, ho!
(Naut.)
,
a sailor's cry in announcing sight of land.
–
Land ice
,
a field of ice adhering to the coast, in distinction from a floe.
–
Land leech
(Zool.)
,
any one of several species of blood-sucking leeches, which, in moist, tropical regions, live on land, and are often troublesome to man and beast.
–
Land measure
,
the system of measurement used in determining the area of land; also, a table of areas used in such measurement.
–
Land of bondage
or
House of bondage
,
in Bible history, Egypt; by extension, a place or condition of special oppression.
–
Land o' cakes
,
Scotland.
–
Land of Nod
,
sleep.
–
Land of promise
,
in Bible history, Canaan: by extension, a better country or condition of which one has expectation.
–
Land of steady habits
,
a nickname sometimes given to the State of Connecticut.
–
Land office
,
a government office in which the entries upon, and sales of, public land are registered, and other business respecting the public lands is transacted.
[U.S.]
–
Land pike
.
(Zool.)
(a)
The gray pike, or sauger.
(b)
The Menobranchus.
–
Land service
,
military service as distinguished from naval service.
–
Land rail
.
(Zool)
(a)
The crake or corncrake of Europe.
See
Crake
.
(b)
An Australian rail (
Hypotænidia Phillipensis
); – called also
pectoral rail
.
–
Land scrip
,
a certificate that the purchase money for a certain portion of the public land has been paid to the officer entitled to receive it.
[U.S.]
–
Land shark
,
a swindler of sailors on shore.
[Sailors' Cant]
–
Land side
(a)
That side of anything in or on the sea, as of an island or ship, which is turned toward the land.
(b)
The side of a plow which is opposite to the moldboard and which presses against the unplowed land.
–
Land snail
(Zool.)
,
any snail which lives on land, as distinguished from the aquatic snails are Pulmonifera, and belong to the Geophila; but the operculated land snails of warm countries are Diœcia, and belong to the Tænioglossa. See
Geophila
, and
Helix
.
–
Land spout
,
a descent of cloud and water in a conical form during the occurrence of a tornado and heavy rainfall on land.
–
Land steward
,
a person who acts for another in the management of land, collection of rents, etc.
–
Land tortoise
,
Land turtle
(Zool.)
,
any tortoise that habitually lives on dry land, as the box tortoise. See
Tortoise
.
–
Land warrant
,
a certificate from the Land Office, authorizing a person to assume ownership of a public land.
[U.S.]
–
Land wind
.
Same as
Land breeze
(above).
–
To make land
(Naut.)
,
to sight land.
To set the land
,
to see by the compass how the land bears from the ship.
–
To shut in the land
,
to hide the land, as when fog, or an intervening island, obstructs the view.

Land

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Landed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Landing
.]
1.
To set or put on shore from a ship or other water craft; to disembark; to debark.
I 'll undertake to
land
them on our coast.
Shakespeare
2.
To catch and bring to shore; to capture;
as, to
land
a fish
.
3.
To set down after conveying; to cause to fall, alight, or reach; to bring to the end of a course;
as, he
landed
the quoit near the stake; to be thrown from a horse and
landed
in the mud; to
land
one in difficulties or mistakes.
2.
Specifically:
To go on shore from a ship or boat; to disembark.

Webster 1828 Edition

Land

LAND

, n.
1.
Earth, or the solid matter which constitutes the fixed part of the surface of the globe, in distinction from the sea or other waters, which constitute the fluid or movable part. Hence we say, the globe is terraqueous, consisting of land and water. The seaman in a long voyage longs to see land.
2.
Any portion of the solid, superficial part of the globe, whether a kingdom or country, or a particular region. The United States is denominated the land of freedom.
Go, view the land, even Jericho. Josh. 2.
3.
Any small portion of the superficial part of the earth or ground. We speak of the quantity of land in a manor. Five hundred acres of land is a large farm.
4.
Ground; soil, or the superficial part of the earth in respect to its nature or quality; as good land; poor land; moist or dry land.
5.
Real Estate. A traitor forfeits all his lands and tenements.
6.
The inhabitants of a country or region; a nation or people.
These answers in the silent night received, the king himself divulged, the land believed.
7.
The ground left unplowed between furrows, is by some of our farmers called a land.
To make the land,
To make land, In seaman's language, is to discover land from sea, as the ship approaches it.
To shut in the land, to lose sight of the land left, by the intervention of a point or promontory.
To set the land, to see by the compass how it bears from the ship.

LAND

,
Noun.
Urine; whence the old expression, land dam, to kill. Obs.

LAND

,
Verb.
T.
to set on shore; to disembark; to debark; as, to land troops from a ship or boat; to land goods.

LAND

,
Verb.
I.
To go on shore from a ship or boat; to disembark.

Definition 2024

Land

Land

See also: land, länd, lǟnd, and -land

English

Proper noun

Land

  1. A surname​.

Derived terms

  • Land Camera

Albanian

Alternative forms
  • Landi

Etymology

Probably from lëndë 'matter, timber', connected to lëndinë 'pasture, grassland'.

Proper noun

Land m

  1. A male given name
  2. heath or pasture dweller
Related terms

Alemannic German

Pronunciation

  • (Zurich) IPA(key): /lɒnd/

Noun

Land n ‎(plural Länder)

  1. land
  2. country

German

Etymology

From Middle High German lant, from Old High German lant, from Proto-Germanic *landą, from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‎(“land, heath”). Compare Dutch, English, and Danish land, Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌽𐌳 ‎(land).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lant/
  • Rhymes: -ant

Noun

Land n ‎(genitive Landes or Lands, plural Länder or Lande, diminutive Ländchen n)

  1. a country.
  2. a state which is part of a country.
  3. land (real estate).
  4. the land, the dry portion of the earth's surface.
  5. the countryside.

Usage notes

  • The normal plural is Länder. The plural Lande is elevated or poetic, and is occasionally used in modern German to mean "countryside, vast areas", e.g. die weiten Lande Sibiriens – "the wide lands of Siberia".

Declension

Hyponyms

  • See: Category:de:Countries

Derived terms

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Old High German lant, from Proto-Germanic *landą.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɑnt/
    Rhymes: -ɑnt

Noun

Land n ‎(plural Länner)

  1. (uncountable) land
  2. country

land

land

See also: Land, länd, lǟnd, and -land

English

Noun

land ‎(countable and uncountable, plural lands)

  1. The part of Earth which is not covered by oceans or other bodies of water.
    Most insects live on land.
  2. Real estate or landed property; a partitioned and measurable area which is owned and on which buildings can be erected.
    There are 50 acres of land in this estate.
  3. A country or region.
    They come from a faraway land.
  4. A person's country of origin and/or homeplace; homeland.
  5. The soil, in respect to its nature or quality for farming.
    wet land; good or bad land for growing potatoes
  6. A general country, state, or territory.
    He moved from his home to settle in a faraway land.
  7. (often in combination) realm, domain.
    I'm going to Disneyland.
    Maybe that's how it works in TV-land, but not in the real world.
  8. (agriculture) The ground left unploughed between furrows; any of several portions into which a field is divided for ploughing.
  9. (Ireland, colloquial) A fright.
    He got an awful land when the police arrived.
  10. (electronics) A conducting area on a board or chip which can be used for connecting wires.
  11. In a compact disc or similar recording medium, an area of the medium which does not have pits.
  12. (travel) The non-airline portion of an itinerary. Hotel, tours, cruises, etc.
    Our city offices sell a lot more land than our suburban offices.
  13. (obsolete) The ground or floor.
    • Spenser
      Herself upon the land she did prostrate.
  14. (nautical) The lap of the strakes in a clinker-built boat; the lap of plates in an iron vessel; called also landing.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)
  15. In any surface prepared with indentations, perforations, or grooves, that part of the surface which is not so treated, such as the level part of a millstone between the furrows.
    1. (ballistics) The space between the rifling grooves in a gun.
    • 2008 August 1, Steele, Lisa, “Ballistics”, in Eric York Drogin, editor, Science for Lawyers, American Bar Association, page 16:
      The FBI maintains a database, the General Rifling Characteristics (GRC) file, which is organized by caliber, number of lands and grooves, direction of twist, and width of lands and grooves, to help an examiner figure out the origin of a recovered bullet.
    • 2012 November 15, Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes, “One Way to Get Off”, in Elementary, season 1, episode 7:
      The human eye is a precision instrument. It can detect grooves and lands on a slug more efficiently than any computer.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

land ‎(third-person singular simple present lands, present participle landing, simple past and past participle landed)

  1. (intransitive) To descend to a surface, especially from the air.
    The plane is about to land.
  2. (dated) To alight, to descend from a vehicle.
    • 1859, “Rules adopted by the Sixth Avenue Railway, N. Y.”, quoted in Alexander Easton, A Practical Treatise on Street or Horse-Power Railways, page 108:
      10. You will be civil and attentive to passengers, giving proper assistance to ladies and children getting in or out, and never start the car before passengers are fairly received or landed.
  3. (intransitive) To come into rest.
  4. (intransitive) To arrive at land, especially a shore, or a dock, from a body of water.
  5. (transitive) To bring to land.
    It can be tricky to land a helicopter.
    Use the net to land the fish.
    • Shakespeare
      I'll undertake to land them on our coast.
  6. (transitive) To acquire; to secure.
    • 2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport:
      As Di Matteo celebrated and captain John Terry raised the trophy for the fourth time, the Italian increased his claims to become the permanent successor to Andre Villas-Boas by landing a trophy.
  7. (transitive) To deliver.
Derived terms
Translations
to arrive at land, especially a shore, or a dock, from a body of water

Adjective

land ‎(not comparable)

  1. Of or relating to land.
  2. Residing or growing on land.
Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

land ‎(uncountable)

  1. lant; urine

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: return · call · speak · #355: land · why · women · cried

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch land, from Old Dutch lant, from Proto-Germanic *landą, from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‎(“land, heath”).

Noun

land ‎(plural lande)

  1. country; nation

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Danish land, from Old Norse land, from Proto-Germanic *landą, from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‎(“land, heath”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lan/, [lanˀ]

Noun

land n (singular definite landet, plural indefinite lande)

  1. country (nation state)
  2. land
Usage notes

In compounds: land-, lande-, lands-, -land.

Inflection

Etymology 2

See lande ‎(“to land”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lan/, [lanˀ]

Verb

land

  1. imperative of lande

Etymology 3

From land ‎(“country”). Possibly influenced by proper nouns like English Disneyland and Danish Legoland. [from 1969]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /-lan/, [-ˌlanˀ]

Noun

*land n

  1. (bound morpheme, only used as the last part of compounds) a large area or facility dedicated to a certain type of activity or merchandise
Compounds
  • badeland
  • legeland
  • sommerland
  • vandland

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɑnt/

Etymology

From Old Dutch lant, from Proto-Germanic *landą, from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‎(“land, heath”). Compare German Land, West Frisian lân, English and Danish land.

Noun

land n ‎(plural landen, diminutive landje n)

  1. land; country
  2. land (part of Earth not covered by water)

Derived terms

Verb

land

  1. first-person singular present indicative of landen
  2. imperative of landen

Elfdalian

Etymology

From Old Norse land, from Proto-Germanic *landą, from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‎(“land, heath”). Cognate with Swedish land.

Noun

land

  1. country; nation

Faroese

Etymology 1

From Old Norse land, from Proto-Germanic *landą, from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‎(“land, heath”).

Noun

land n (genitive singular lands, plural lond)

  1. land
  2. coast
  3. country, nation
  4. ground, soil
  5. the state
Declension
n8 Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative land landið lond londini
Accusative land landið lond londini
Dative landi landinum londum londunum
Genitive lands landsins landa landanna
Related terms

Etymology 2

From Old Norse hland, from Proto-Germanic *hlandą, from Proto-Indo-European *klān- ‎(“liquid, wet ground”). Cognate with Lithuanian klanas ‎(“pool, puddle, slop”).

Noun

land n (genitive singular lands, uncountable)

  1. (uncountable) urine
Declension
n8 Singular
Indefinite Definite
Nominative land landið
Accusative land landið
Dative landi landinum
Genitive lands landsins

Gothic

Romanization

land

  1. Romanization of 𐌻𐌰𐌽𐌳

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse land, from Proto-Germanic *landą, from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‎(“land, heath”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lant/
  • Rhymes: -ant

Noun

land n ‎(genitive singular lands, nominative plural lönd)

  1. (uncountable) land, earth, ground (part of the Earth not under water)
  2. (countable) country
    Japan er fallegt land.‎
    Japan is a beautiful country.
  3. (uncountable) countryside, country
    Ég bý úti á landi.‎
    I live in the country.
  4. (uncountable) land, as a mass noun, measurable in quantity
  5. (countable) tracts of land, an estate
    Ég á þetta land og allt sem er á því.‎
    I own this land and everything on it.

Declension

Derived terms

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɑn/
  • Rhymes: -ɑn

Etymology 1

From Old Norse land, from Proto-Germanic *landą, from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‎(“land, heath”).

Noun

land n ‎(definite singular landet, indefinite plural land, definite plural landa or landene)

  1. country
  2. land
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Verb

land

  1. imperative of lande

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse land, from Proto-Germanic *landą, from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‎(“land, heath”).

Noun

land n ‎(definite singular landet, indefinite plural land, definite plural landa)

  1. country
  2. land

Derived terms

References

Old Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse land, from Proto-Germanic *landą.

Noun

land n ‎(genitive lanz, plural land)

  1. land
    • 1241, Codex Holmiensis, prologue.
      Mæth logh skal land byggæs.
      With law shall land be built.

Declension

Descendants

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *landą, from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‎(“land, heath”). Cognate with Old Saxon land, Old Frisian land, lond, Old Dutch lant (Dutch land), Old High German lant (German Land), Old Norse land (Swedish land), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌽𐌳 ‎(land). The Proto-Indo-European root is also the source of Proto-Celtic *landā (Welsh llan ‎(“enclosure”), Breton lann ‎(“heath”)).

Pronunciation

Noun

land n

  1. land

Derived terms

Descendants

Old Irish

Noun

land ?

  1. Alternative spelling of lann

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
land
also lland after a proclitic 		land
pronounced with /l(ʲ)-/ 		land
also lland after a proclitic
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *landą, from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‎(“land, heath”). Cognate with Old Saxon land, Old Frisian land, lond, Old English land, lond, Old Dutch lant, Old High German lant, Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌽𐌳 ‎(land).

Noun

land n (genitive lands, plural lǫnd)

  1. land

Declension

Descendants

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *landą, from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‎(“land, heath”). Cognate with Old English land, lond, Old Frisian land, lond, Dutch land, Old High German lant (German Land), Old Norse land (Swedish land), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌽𐌳 ‎(land). The Proto-Indo-European root is also the source of Proto-Celtic *landā (Welsh llan ‎(“enclosure”), Breton lann ‎(“heath”)).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɑnd/

Noun

land n

  1. land

Declension

Descendants

  • German Low German: Land

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse land, from Proto-Germanic *landą.

Noun

land n

  1. land

Declension

Descendants

Polish

Etymology

From German Land.

Noun

land m inan

  1. (Poznań dialect) rural area: the country(side)

Synonyms

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish land, from Old Norse land, from Proto-Germanic *landą, from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‎(“land, heath”).

Pronunciation

Noun

land n

  1. a land, a country, a nation, a state
  2. (uncountable) land, ground, earth, territory; as opposed to sea or air
    land i sikte!‎
    land in sight!
    efter kriget tvangs förlorande staterna avträda mycket land‎
    after the war, the losing states had to cede much land
  3. (uncountable) land, countryside, earth, ground suitable for farming; as opposed to towns and cities
    livet på landet‎
    life in the countryside
    stad och land‎
    town and country
  4. a garden plot, short for trädgårdsland; small piece of ground for growing vegetables, flowers, etc.

Declension

Inflection of land 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative land landet land landen
Genitive lands landets lands landens

Synonyms

  • (country): nation
  • (neither sea nor air): backe, landbacke, mark
  • (ground suitable for farming): mark (owned land in general, for farming or not)

Derived terms

References

Etymology

From Middle English land, lond, from Old English land, lond ‎(“earth, land, soil, ground; defined piece of land, territory, realm, province, district; landed property; country (not town); ridge in a ploughed field”), from Proto-Germanic *landą ‎(“land”), from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‎(“land, heath”). Cognate with Scots land ‎(“land”), West Frisian lân ‎(“land”), Dutch land ‎(“land”), German Land ‎(“land, country, state”), Swedish land ‎(“land, country, shore, territory”), Icelandic land ‎(“land”). Non-Germanic cognates include Old Irish lann ‎(“heath”), Welsh llan ‎(“enclosure”), Breton lann ‎(“heath”), Old Church Slavonic лѧдо ‎(lędo), from Proto-Slavic *lenda ‎(“heath, wasteland”) and Albanian lëndinë ‎(“heath, grassland”) from lëndë ‎(“matter, substance”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: lănd, IPA(key): /lænd/
  • Rhymes: -ænd
  • IPA(key): /lɑnd/

Similar Results