What does arrish mean?
Arrish is an English dialect word for the second crop of grass that grows in a meadow after the main hay harvest has been gathered. Known also as the aftermath or, in North America, the rowen, this regrowth was traditionally valuable to farmers as late-season grazing for livestock or as extra fodder before winter. The word belongs chiefly to the rural vocabulary of Britain, where it survives in county dialect glossaries and older agricultural writing rather than in ordinary conversation. Its connotations are pastoral and nostalgic, summoning a world of haymaking, commons, and seasonal rhythms of the farming year. Although rare today, arrish is useful to anyone interested in historical agriculture, regional English, or the specialized vocabulary that once described every stage of the hay harvest. For readers, it offers a precise, evocative name for a natural phenomenon everyone recognizes but few can label: the fresh green flush of grass that follows the scythe.
nounA second crop of grass that springs up in a meadow after the hay has been cut; the aftermath or rowen.
- The second growth or aftermath of grass in a meadow after the first crop of hay has been taken.
"The sheep were turned into the field to graze on the arrish after the hay was carried."
"By Michaelmas the cattle were grazing contentedly on the arrish."
"In some country districts, the arrish was still cut as fodder late in the season."
Rarely used in the plural, since the word typically refers to the regrowth in a single meadow or season.
"Different fields yielded their arrishes at different times through the autumn."
Before modern machinery could squeeze multiple cuttings from a field, farmers relied on the humble 'arrish' — the free bonus crop of grass nature offered after the hay harvest.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of arrish
The origin of arrish is uncertain; it appears in English dialect use as a term for the aftermath or second crop of grass in a meadow. The word is recorded in regional and agricultural sources from at least the eighteenth century, though its exact earliest attestation is not firmly established. Because its derivation remains unresolved, no reliable cognates in other languages can be cited, and lexicographers treat it as a word of obscure provincial origin.
How arrish is actually used
Arrish is a rural and largely historical term, now found mainly in dialect glossaries and agricultural literature rather than everyday speech. In American farming contexts, the equivalent term is more often 'rowen'; in standard British usage, 'aftermath' (in its original agricultural sense) is the common word. Connotations are pastoral and old-fashioned, evoking traditional husbandry.
Easily confused with arrish
Garish means excessively bright or showy, while arrish is a dialect noun for the second growth of grass in a meadow.
A parish is an ecclesiastical district, whereas arrish refers to regrowth of grass after mowing — the two merely share a similar ending.