unplantableadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈplɑːntəbl/, /(ˌ)ʌnˈplantəbl/, U.S. /ˌənˈplæn(t)əb(ə)l/ Of land: not plantable; infertile, barren.
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the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [adjective] > uncultivable
unmanurable1592
uncultivable1663
unplantable1683
untillable1714
irreclaimable1814
unculturable1860
uncultivatable1870
1683 Present State Jamaica 2 It's imagined, if this Island were divided into eight parts,..[three parts are] Barren or unplantable.
1722 Gen. Surv. St. Christophers 25 The alledged Numbers of plantable and unplantable Acres of these Lands now in the King's Gift.
1774 E. Long Hist. Jamaica I. ii. ii. 350 The savannahs..may be reckoned to add about two hundred and fifty thousand [acres], and the rocky, unplantable parts.., about three hundred thousand.
1855 Florist, Fruitist, & Garden Misc. Sept. 275 Near the centre of each compartment of turf was a peculiarly unplantable bed.
1898 Hawaiian Planters' Monthly May 232 In Java such steep slopes abounding in boulders and stones would be looked upon as unplantable.
1935 Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. 23 Nov. 11/1 (heading) Huge tract of Argyll ‘unplantable’ land.
2012 D. Shafer Vineyard in Napa i. 15 A full three-quarters of the property was unplantable, thanks to the steepness of much of the terrain.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1683