What does pasturing mean?
“Pasturing” means allowing livestock or other animals to feed on pasture, and it can also describe animals grazing there. The word is especially associated with cattle, sheep, horses, and other domesticated animals, although it can apply more broadly. In its transitive use, “pasturing” emphasizes the management of animals and the practice of putting them on grassland; in its intransitive use, it describes the animals’ grazing activity. The term has a rural, agricultural, and somewhat formal tone, so ordinary speakers often use “grazing” instead. “Pasturing” is also the present participle of “pasture,” a verb whose related noun names both the land where animals graze and the grass or other vegetation they eat. The word belongs to a family that includes “pastoral,” which originally related to shepherds and shepherds’ land and now suggests rural life or countryside imagery.
verbPasturing is the act of putting livestock or other animals to graze on pasture, or the act of grazing there.
- To put livestock or other animals to graze on pasture.
- To graze or feed on pasture.
"The farmer spent the summer pasturing cattle on the hillside."
"The shepherd was pasturing sheep on the lower slopes."
"The horses spent the afternoon pasturing near the river."
Pasturing is what turns open grassland into a working landscape—and into the origin of words such as “pastoral.”
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does pasturing come from?
The word derives from the Latin “pastura,” meaning pasture or grazing, and ultimately from “pascere,” “to feed” or “to pasture.” In English, “pasture” developed as both a noun referring to grazing land or vegetation and a verb meaning to put animals out to graze. The present participle “pasturing” follows the ordinary English pattern of adding “-ing” to the verb, while related forms such as “pasturable” and “pastorage” preserve the same agricultural root. The Latin root also connects with “pastor,” originally a shepherd, and the wider family of pastoral words.
Related word forms
How pasturing is actually used
“Pasturing” is a formal or literary term. In everyday speech, “grazing” is more common, while “pasture” usually refers to the land used for grazing.
Easily confused with pasturing
“Pasturing” means putting animals out to graze, whereas “pasture” is the land or vegetation on which they graze.