What does plowman mean?
Plowman is a noun meaning a man who works with a plow, especially one who ploughs fields for a living. Historically, it could also stand more broadly for a farmer or rural cultivator, carrying an old-fashioned, sometimes literary sense of a man tied to the land. In ordinary modern British usage, the word remains common in older writing, historical accounts, and rural vocabulary, although farmer or agricultural worker is often more precise and neutral. It is also intelligible in American English, but American speakers normally say farmer or plow operator. Plowman is memorable because it names a traditional occupation and preserves the agricultural history of the language: the agricultural laborer and the implement he used are fused in one compact compound. It appears naturally in phrases such as a hired plowman and a plowman's wages, illustrating how labor, occupation, and rural life can be expressed in a single word.
nounA man who ploughs land, especially one who works as an agricultural laborer. In older or literary usage, it can also mean a farmer or rural cultivator.
- A man who ploughs land, especially as an agricultural laborer.
- A farmer or rural cultivator, especially in older or literary usage.
"The hired plowman guided the horses across the field."
"A plowman was needed to prepare the field before planting."
"The novel portrays the plowman as a central figure in the rural community."
The standard plural is plowmen; the British-spelling plural is ploughmen.
"The plowmen began work before sunrise."
Plowman names both the worker and his trade in one word: a man who ploughs.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does plowman come from?
The word is an English compound of plow, also spelled plough, and man. Plow is inherited through Middle English from Old English plōh, an old word for a plough or furrow, and was combined with man to denote a worker who ploughs. Related forms such as plowshare, plowboy, and plowwright preserve the same agricultural root in English.
How plowman is actually used
The word is chiefly British and now sounds old-fashioned or literary in many contexts. In modern American English, farmer, farmhand, or agricultural worker is usually more natural.
Easily confused with plowman
Ploughman is the British-spelling variant of plowman, not a separate word or meaning.