Ranched

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A specific area utilized for the systematic raising and management of livestock is established
2. A designated plot of land focused on the organized breeding and care of animals is created
3. A cultivated piece of land dedicated to the regulated raising and management of animals is formed

Etymology: "Ranched" is simply the past tense and past participle of "ranch," so the story belongs to the noun it comes from. That noun was borrowed from Spanish. In American Spanish, "rancho" meant a small farm or a cluster of farm huts, but the original Spanish sense was a group of people who ate together, a meaning tied to the idea of a shared mess or meal. Spanish speakers and English speakers both drew on the notion of people gathered in one place. English took the word from the American Spanish sense, which it first recorded in 1808, and the farm sense followed in 1831. It was a useful term for the open grazing lands of the American West, where settlers and cattlemen adopted Spanish vocabulary wholesale. Spanish "rancho" is also related to the English word "rank," which comes from the same ancient root meaning a line or row of people. The English verb "to ranch" then came to mean running such an operation, and "ranched" is the form describing that activity in the past.

Synonyms: farmed, ranching, cultivated, pastured, herded