Garthland

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An enclosed piece of land forming a garden or yard, traditionally one set within or beside a monastery or large house
2. Ground enclosed as a garth, a walled or fenced plot of grassy land used as a garden or courtyard
3. A walled or fenced area of land serving as a garden or yard, especially one attached to an old religious building

Etymology: The first part of this word, "garth," comes from Old Norse "garðr," meaning an enclosure or yard. It is cognate with Old English "geard," which gave English "yard," and it is related to "garden," though "garden" arrived through Old French. In northern England and Scotland, where Norse settlers left their mark, "garth" survived as a word for a small enclosed plot, and in monasteries the "cloister garth" was the walled garden inside a cloister. Joined to "land," the compound is transparent: it names ground held within such an enclosure. "Land" is an ancient Germanic word, from Old English "land," with a basic sense of cultivated or settled ground rather than an abstract territory.