First Known Use: 1831
Dictionary
1ranch
noun \ˈranch\
: a large farm especially in the U.S. where animals (such as cattle, horses, and sheep) are raised
: a farm for a special crop or kind of animal
Full Definition of RANCH
1
: a large farm for raising horses, beef cattle, or sheep
2
: a farm or area devoted to a particular specialty
3
See ranch defined for English-language learners
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Origin of RANCH
Mexican Spanish rancho small ranch, from Spanish, camp, hut & Spanish dialect, small farm, from Old Spanish ranchearse to take up quarters, from Middle French se ranger to take up a position, from ranger to set in a row — more at range
2ranch
verb
: to live or work on a ranch
: to raise (an animal) on a ranch
Full Definition of RANCH
intransitive verb
: to live or work on a ranch
transitive verb
1
: to work as a rancher on
2
: to raise on a ranch
See ranch defined for English-language learners
First Known Use of RANCH
1866
RANCH Defined for Kids
1ranch
noun \ˈranch\
Definition of RANCH for Kids
1
: a large farm for the raising of livestock (as cattle)
2
: a farm devoted to a special crop
Word History of RANCH
In the Spanish language of the 1500s the verb rancharse was used by soldiers in the sense “to be camped” someplace. The conquistadors who took this verb to the Americas also were familiar with a derivative noun rancho, referring originally to a camp or temporary dwelling such as a hut. Both the general sense “dwelling” and the specifically Mexican sense “small farm” were adopted into American English in the 1800s—as rancho and the more English-sounding ranch. By the late 1800s ranch was most often not a small farm but a large piece of land devoted to raising livestock—a meaning the word still maintains.
2ranch
verb
ranchedranch·ing
Definition of RANCH for Kids
: to live or work on a large farm where livestock are raised
— ranch·er noun
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