Meanings
echard1
plural echards
- datedThe portion of water in a sample of soil that is not available to vegetation.
Grasses sprout on the sands long before the early rains have restored the echard of adjoining clays and given a surplus as chresard which can initiate grass growth.
1951, John Smith, Distribution of Tree Species in the Sudan in Relation to Rainfall and Soil Texture1 more example
The echard of a given habitat is experimentally ascertained by isolating a block of soil by impermeable plates, allowing it to dry slowly and determining its water-content at the time when the plants growing on it are wilting irrecoverably
1905, Arthur Tansley, The New Phytologist, page 238
Echard2
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Ancient Greekἔχω“to hold”
- Englishechard
From Ancient Greek ἔχω (ékhō, “to hold”) + ἄρδω (árdō, “to water, to irrigate”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
echard. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/echard
“echard.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/echard. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “echard,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/echard.
Source: echard on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.