orchard

Meanings

Plural: orchards

Noun

garden consisting of a small cultivated wood without undergrowth
A garden or an area of land for the cultivation of fruit or nut trees.
The trees themselves cultivated in such an area.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English orchard, orcherd, from Old English orċeard, ortġeard, a compound of *ort (probably from Proto-Germanic *urtiz, a dissimilated variant of Proto-Germanic *wurt- (“wort (plant)”), later incorrectly associated with unrelated Latin hortus (“garden”)) + ġeard (see hortyard and yard, which ironically is etymologically linked with hortus). Cognate with Swedish örtagård (“herb garden”), Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍄𐌹𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐍃 (aurtigards, “orchard”), Old High German orzōn (“to cultivate a field”). Equivalent to wort + yard. More at root.

Synonyms

grove, plantation, woodlet

Scrabble Score: 13

orchard is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
orchard is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
orchard is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 13

orchard is a valid Words With Friends word