WordGarden.iohusbandman
C2Pronunciation
UK
- /hˈʌsbəndmən/
US
Meanings
Noun
a farmer or person who cultivates land
Beyond the definition
Once upon a time, before tractors and other modern farm machines, many communities depended on the husbandman. Here, the word does not mean a spouse. It means a man who farmed the land, worked the soil, and raised what a household or village needed. In older use, it often suggested someone who lived by steady, practical farm work rather than someone of high social rank. The word brings to mind an earlier world in which daily life followed the seasons and the success of the harvest.
Today, the term is old-fashioned and uncommon, but you may still meet it in historical writing, the Bible, or older literature. In most cases, it simply means a farmer, especially one seen in a traditional or historical setting. The word carries a sense of honest labor, care for the land, and a close link to rural life.
The word "husbandman" is an old term for a man who farms or cultivates land. In most modern contexts, "farmer" is the natural equivalent, but "husbandman" carries a distinctly historical tone. It appears in older English, religious texts, and literature, where it often refers to an ordinary rural worker whose life is tied to the fields, the seasons, and the produce of the land. The word comes from older forms related to "husbandry," which once meant the management and cultivation of land and animals.
Historically, the term could be more specific than our modern word "farmer." In medieval and early modern England, a husbandman was often a small farmer or tenant farmer of modest standing, below a yeoman in social rank. Even so, the exact sense depends on the text. In many passages, it simply means someone who works the land. The idea behind the word is not just ownership, but active cultivation: plowing, sowing, tending crops, caring for animals, and managing the practical work that keeps a farm going.
You will most often find "husbandman" in older literature, biblical language, or writing that wants to sound archaic. In such settings, it helps create a picture of country life and manual labor. It may suggest not only farming as a job, but also the steady discipline of working with the land year after year. Because of that, the word can carry tones of thrift, patience, and practical skill.
In short, when you see "husbandman," think first of a traditional farmer, especially in a historical or literary setting. Sometimes it points more narrowly to a small or tenant farmer, and sometimes it is just an old-fashioned word for someone who cultivates the soil. The main idea is simple: a man whose work and livelihood come from the land.
Examples
- 1
Historical record
In the village tax record, John Miller is described as a husbandman.
- Usage
husbandman is an old word, mainly used in historical or literary English
- 2
Poetry
The poem honors the husbandman who reads the weather and works the land with patience.
- 3
Social change
As the town grew, many husbandmen gave up their fields and looked for work in the city.
- Grammarhusbandmen
the plural form
See also
Similar
Shades of meaning
- yeoman
- plowman
- tenant farmer
Contrast
Used with (collocations)
- good husbandman
- careful husbandman
- husbandman of the soil
Word family
Explore
- agriculture
- subsistence farming
Forms and spellings
1 form open this card.
Main spelling
- husbandmannoun