fallow1

 
Pronunciation: /ˈfaləʊ/

adjective

  • 1(of farmland) ploughed and harrowed but left for a period without being sown in order to restore its fertility or to avoid surplus production: incentives for farmers to let land lie fallow
  • (of a period of time) characterized by inaction; unproductive: long fallow periods when nothing seems to happen
  • 2(of a sow) not pregnant.

noun

  • a piece of fallow land: a great estate was usually divided between fallows, grazed stubble, and wheat [mass noun]: strips of summer fallow

verb

[with object]
  • leave (land) fallow for a period: fallow the ground for a week or so after digging

Derivatives

fallowness

noun

Origin:

Old English fealgian 'to break up land for sowing', of Germanic origin; related to Low German falgen