fallow
/ˈfæloʊ/noun, adjective, verb
fallow is spelled F-A-L-L-O-W: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, fallow means “Ground ploughed and harrowed but left unseeded for one year” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fallow is fallows.
How many letters and syllables are in fallow?
| Letters | 6: F-A-L-L-O-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 35,748th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is fallow?
Fallow appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th 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).
How do you pronounce fallow?
- UK /ˈfæləʊ/
- US /ˈfæloʊ/
Fallow has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-fallow.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with fallow?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as fallow from its last stressed vowel (/æloʊ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of fallow
- fallows plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- more fallow comparative
- most fallow superlative
- fallowing participle, present
- fallowed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fallow mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Ground ploughed and harrowed but left unseeded for one year.
- 2
Uncultivated land.
- 3
The ploughing or tilling of land, without sowing it for a season.
adjective
- 1
Ploughed but left unseeded for more than one planting season.
- 2
Left unworked and uncropped for some amount of time.
- 3
Inactive; undeveloped.
a fallow period in one's career
- 4
Of a pale red or yellow, light brown; dun.
a fallow deer or greyhound
verb
- 1
To make land fallow for agricultural purposes.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Fallow in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | jachère , friche , en jachère, en friche |
| German | Grünbrache, Kulturbrache, Rotationsbrache , Brache, Brachland , brach |
| Portuguese | pousio , terra inculta |
| Spanish | barbecho, guamil, barbechada , yermo , barbechar, abarbechar |
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 fallow come from?
[Alt: A photograph of a ploughed field.] From Middle English falwe, from Old English fealh, fealg (“fallow land”), from Proto-West Germanic *falgu (compare Saterland Frisian Falge, West Frisian falig, felling, Dutch valg, German Felge), from Proto-Indo-European *polḱéh₂ (“arable land”) (compare Gaulish olca, Russian полоса́ (polosá)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).