agribusiness
agri·busi·ness/ˈæɡɹɪˌbɪznəs/noun
agribusiness is a noun meaning “Business (especially big business) connected to agriculture, either owning or operating large-scale farms, or catering to those who do” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled A-G-R-I-B-U-S-I-N-E-S-S and has 3 syllables (agri·busi·ness), and it appears about once in every 2 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of agribusiness is agribusinesses.
What does agribusiness mean?
noun
- 1
Business (especially big business) connected to agriculture, either owning or operating large-scale farms, or catering to those who do.
Near-synonym: agroindustry
- 2
A business or group of businesses engaged in agriculture, particularly if using modern farming techniques in the process.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce agribusiness?
- US /ˈæɡɹɪˌbɪznəs/
- US /-nɪs/
Agribusiness has 3 syllables, split agri·busi·ness in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-agribusiness.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of agribusiness
- agribusinesses plural
- agri-business
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is agribusiness?
Agribusiness appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,416th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Agribusiness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense big business connected to agriculture:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | agro-industrie |
| German | Agribusiness, Agrobusiness |
| Portuguese | agronegócio |
| Spanish | agronegocio |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does agribusiness come from?
From agri- + business, or a blend of agriculture + business, coined by American academic and diplomat John Herbert Davis (1904–1988).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).