Fallowing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The state of agricultural land that has been prepared for planting but is intentionally left unsown for a season
2. The process of leaving soil unused for a period to restore its fertility
3. A farming method where fields are kept without crops for one or more seasons to recover nutrients

Etymology: Fallowing is the present participle of "fallow," and the verb carries an ancient idea: leaving land unplanted so it can recover. The noun it comes from, Old English "fealh" or "fealg," meant land that had been ploughed but left unsown, and the verb "fealgian" meant to break up land for planting. The sense of rest came along with the tilling, not after it, so the word always described ground being worked and then held back. The colour "fallow," meaning a pale yellowish grey-brown, is a separate word that happens to look the same. It descends from Old English "fealu," which meant pale or wan, and it is linked to a much older root meaning grey. The two words only met in English spelling, which is why the field sense and the colour sense seem unrelated to most readers.

Synonyms: idling, resting

Antonyms: cultivating, planting