sharecropping
SHAIR-krop-ing
/ˈʃeəˌkrɒp.ɪŋ/
nounC1GRESATIELTS
academichistorical
A system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use land in return for a share of the crops produced.
Often traps tenants in debt, as seed and equipment costs are deducted from the tenant's share.
The story behind the word. A compound formed in 19th-century American English to describe agricultural labor contracts after the abolition of slavery.
Word relationships
- metayage: Metayage is the specific French/European term for sharecropping arrangements.
- owner-occupancy: Owner-occupancy means farming land that you own outright without sharing yields with a landlord.
Commonly confused with
- sharecropper: Sharecropper is the individual tenant farmer, whereas sharecropping is the social and economic system.
Word family
- sharecropper (noun): A farmer who works land owned by another in exchange for a share of the crop.
Collocations
- system of sharecropping
- sharecropping agreement
- rural sharecropping
- sharecropping contract
Example sentences
- "Following emancipation, sharecropping became the dominant agrarian arrangement across the American South." Post-Civil War US history
- "Critics argue that sharecropping frequently perpetuates rural debt cycles by keeping tenants financially dependent." Developmental sociology
Memory hook
Share the crop = sharecropping. You farm and share the harvested crops with the landlord. Share crop = splitting yield.
When not to use
Do not confuse with standard cash rental, where a fixed money rent is paid regardless of crop yields.
Fun facts
- In medieval France and Italy, sharecropping was known as 'métayage' from the Latin word for 'half'.
Related words
Explore more words
tenancy, Tenant, agribusiness, slash-and-burn, tillage, permaculture
Also appears in
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