Townland
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A geographical unit of land smaller than a parish. Ireland
"Here is to be noted, that Sir Hugh got his estate by townlands, by reason of his agreement with Con O'Neil, whereas other undertakers of plantations in Ulster had several scopes of land (called proportions) admeasured to them, each containing one thousand acres, profitable for plough and good pasture, mountains and bog not reckoned in the number, but thrown in as an appurtenance."
Example
More examples"Here is to be noted, that Sir Hugh got his estate by townlands, by reason of his agreement with Con O'Neil, whereas other undertakers of plantations in Ulster had several scopes of land (called proportions) admeasured to them, each containing one thousand acres, profitable for plough and good pasture, mountains and bog not reckoned in the number, but thrown in as an appurtenance."
Etymology
From town + land.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.