What does sharecrop mean?
Sharecrop is chiefly an American term for farming land under an agreement in which the worker provides labor and receives a portion of the crop rather than a fixed wage. The landowner may also provide land, equipment, housing, or other inputs, making the arrangement broadly resemble a tenancy or labor contract. A person who works under such an agreement is a sharecropper. Historically, sharecropping was especially important for formerly enslaved people, tenant farmers, and families displaced by economic hardship and discrimination in the southern United States. Although the arrangement could provide access to land and a share of its output, it frequently exposed workers to severe debt, crop failure, and exploitation. Today the term is most often encountered in historical discussion, although modern sharecropping arrangements still occur in some places.
To cultivate land under a sharecropping agreement, receiving a share of the produce rather than a fixed wage.
"They sharecropped fertile land along the river for more than a decade."
Chiefly American and commonly associated with historically disadvantaged tenant farmers.
A person who cultivates land under a sharecropping agreement.
"The sharecrop brought the harvest to the landowner and kept a portion for the family."
The less common noun sense is closely associated with the more familiar term sharecropper.
The regular plural is rarely used because the more specific and more common noun is sharecropper.
"Several sharecrops worked the land under separate agreements."
The word sharecrop names an arrangement that divided the harvest between landowner and worker, but that simple share often concealed deep inequality.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sharecrop come from?
Sharecrop is a compound formed from “share” and “crop,” reflecting the basic arrangement of receiving a share of the harvested crop. “Share” descends from Old English scearu, while “crop” comes from Old English cropp, the word for the top part of a plant and later for an agricultural harvest. The compound became established in the United States during the 19th century, particularly as a term for agricultural tenancy after the American Civil War.
Related word forms
How sharecrop is actually used
Chiefly used in the United States. The word is associated with a historically important and often exploitative form of agricultural tenancy, especially in the southern United States. It is not a synonym for ordinary renting, since compensation is generally tied to a share of the harvest.
Easily confused with sharecrop
A sharecropper is the person who cultivates land under a sharecropping arrangement, while sharecrop is the verb describing that activity.