Wheatfield

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A large open area of land where wheat is grown as a crop, with tall golden stalks swaying in the breeze
2. An expanse of cultivated ground planted with wheat, often stretching far across a rural landscape
3. Farmland given over to the growing of wheat, typically seen as rippling golden grain under open skies

Etymology: Wheatfield is about as transparent as English compounds get: "wheat" joined to "field," so it names an open piece of land planted with wheat. Both parts are old Germanic words that have sat side by side in English for centuries, and the compound needs no special story to explain it. The interest lies in how plainly the parts still show. "Field" once meant any open expanse of land, including pasture and meadow, and the combination narrows it to ground given over to one crop. Compounds like this were formed freely in Old and Middle English to name a specific kind of land by its use, so a "wheatfield" is simply the field where wheat grows.

Synonyms: cornfield, grainfield