DictionaryAI

meadow

SayMED-oh/ˈmɛd.oʊ/UK/ˈmɛd.əʊ/

Pluralmeadows

2 meanings of meadow

Practice

  1. 1
    nouncountable
    An area of land covered with grass and other low plants, often mown for hay or used for grazing; some lie low and wet beside rivers or the sea.

    The farmer waits for a dry spell in June before mowing the meadow.

    Sheep wandered across the upper meadows while the farmer mended the fence.

    Similarfield, pasture, grassland

Less common meaning

  1. 2
    verbrare
    To plant land with grass in order to produce hay.

Use it in a sentence

Write your own sentence with meadow, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.

Origin

From Middle English medowe, medewe (beside mede, modern mead), from Old English mǣdwe, an inflected form of mǣd, from Proto-Germanic *mēdwō and ultimately Proto-Indo-European *h₂met- (“to mow, reap”). Compare West Frisian miede, dialectal German Matte (“mountain pasture”), Welsh medi and Latin metō; mow comes from the simpler root *h₂meh₁-, of which *h₂met- is an enlargement.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 9 facts

  • Meadow comes from Middle English medowe and medewe, alongside mede, through an inflected form of Old English mǣd. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old English mǣd descends from Proto-Germanic *mēdwō. en.wiktionary.org
  • The underlying root shared with mow is *h₂meh₁- (“to mow, reap”). *h₂met- is an enlargement of that root; the reconstruction entry derives *mēdwō from *h₂meh₁- plus a suffix. en.wiktionary.org
  • West Frisian miede is a related inherited word. en.wiktionary.org
  • German Matte is related to meadow and has a dialectal meadow sense. en.wiktionary.org
  • Matte can denote mountain pasture. de.wikipedia.org
  • Welsh medi is etymologically related. en.wiktionary.org
  • Latin metō is etymologically related. en.wiktionary.org
  • Mow descends from *h₂meh₁-, the underlying root also associated with meadow. en.wiktionary.org