plantation

noun

plan·​ta·​tion plan-ˈtā-shən 

1

: a usually large group of plants and especially trees under cultivation

2

: a settlement in a new country or region

Plymouth Plantation

3

a

: a place that is planted or under cultivation

b

: an agricultural estate usually worked by resident labor

Synonyms

• colony

Examples of plantation in a Sentence

the struggling plantation almost failed during the first winter

Recent Examples on the Web

This book is not only a retelling of the crime—a story that Till’s family, among others, has already published—but also a rich and wandering history of the township in which Till died: the few square miles of plantations that helped birth both the blues and the Ku Klux Klan. —The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024

Rather than growing crops that could sustain the local food supply, the Europeans who began arriving in the 1600s focused on exploitative extractive economic models and export cash crops through the plantation economy. —Farah Nibbs, The Conversation, 22 Oct. 2024

The enclave of dirt roads and modest homes was founded after the Civil War by freed slaves from an island plantation. —CBS News, 21 Oct. 2024

The island is home to about 70 full-time residents of the Hog Hammock community, many of them descendants of people enslaved at Sapelo plantations. —John Deem, USA TODAY, 20 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

plantation

noun

plan·​ta·​tion plan-ˈtā-shən 

1

: a group of plants and especially trees planted and cared for

2

: a settlement in a new country or region : colony

3

: a planted area

especially : an agricultural estate worked by laborers

Geographical Definition

Plantation

geographical name

city in southeastern Florida west of Fort Lauderdale population 84,955