Sharecropper
/ˈʃerˌkrɑːpər/noun
A tenant farmer who pays rent by giving the landowner a share of the crop.
Did you know?Sharecropping became a major post-Civil War labor system in the American South, and the word itself preserves the harsh reality of farming under a contract of division rather than ownership.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
scearu
“a division, cutting, or portion”
Old English
OE
cropp
“a top, head, or crop of a plant”
Middle English
ME
sharecrope
“a portion of a crop taken as payment”
19th Century
English
share cropper
“a farmer who works land for a share of the produce”
Modern English
English
sharecropper
“a tenant farmer paid with part of the harvest”