Meanings
plural ranches
- countableuncountableA large plot of land used for raising cattle, sheep or other livestock.
There was some laughter, and Roddle was left free to expand his ideas on the periodic visits of cowboys to the town. “Mason Rickets, he had ten big punkins a-sittin' in front of his store, an' them fellers from the Upside-down-F ranch shot 'em up […].”
1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 1, in Twelve O'Clock - countableuncountableA house or property on a plot of ranch land.
- countableuncountablebusinessA ranch-style house.
- uncountableRanch dressing.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA small farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock, especially one in the Southwestern United States.
More synonyms by meaning
nounfarm consisting of a large tract of land along with facilities needed to raise livestock (especially cattle)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Spanishrancho“small farm, group of farm huts”
- Englishranch
Recorded since 1808, farm sense since 1831. From American Spanish rancho (“small farm, group of farm huts”), in Spanish originally “group of people who eat together." Cognate with English rank.
More words from Spanish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian ранчо, ранчо
- ранчо (rančo)large plot of land
- ранчо (rančo)small farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
Catalan ranxo
- ranxolarge plot of land
Chinese Mandarin 牧場 /牧场
- 牧場 /牧场 (mùchǎng)large plot of land
Czech ranč
- rančsmall farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
Danish ranch
- ranchlarge plot of land
Dutch veefokkerij, landgoed
- veefokkerijlarge plot of land
- landgoedlarge plot of land
- ranchsmall farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
Esperanto ranĉo, ranĉo
- ranĉolarge plot of land
- ranĉosmall farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
Finnish karjatila, maatila
- karjatilalarge plot of land
- maatilalarge plot of land
- pientilasmall farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
French ranch, ranch
- ranchlarge plot of land
- ranchsmall farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
German Ranch, Ranch
- Ranchlarge plot of land
- Ranchsmall farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
- Farmsmall farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
Hungarian farm
- farmlarge plot of land
Italian ranch
- ranchsmall farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
Japanese ランチ, 牧場
- ランチ (ranchi)large plot of land
- 牧場 (bokujō)large plot of land
Korean 목장
- 목장 (mokjang)large plot of land
Latin lātifundium
- lātifundiumlarge plot of land
Polish ranczo, ranczo
- ranczolarge plot of land
- ranczosmall farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
- ranczohouse or property on a ranch land
- prowadzić ranczooperate a ranch
- pracować na ranczuwork on a ranch
Portuguese rancho, chácara
- rancholarge plot of land
- chácarasmall farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
Russian ра́нчо, фе́рма
- ра́нчо (ránčo)large plot of land
- фе́рма (férma)large plot of land
- ра́нчо (ránčo)small farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
- фе́рма (férma)small farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
- ра́нчо (ránčo)house or property on a ranch land
- фе́рма (férma)house or property on a ranch land
Spanish rancho, rancho
- rancholarge plot of land
- ranchosmall farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
Swahili ranchi, ranchi
- ranchilarge plot of land
- ranchismall farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
Tagalog rantso, bakahan
- rantsolarge plot of land
- bakahanlarge plot of land
- rantsosmall farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
- bakahansmall farm that cultivates vegetables or livestock
Vietnamese điền trang
- điền tranglarge plot of land
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ranch
All rhymes →Cite this entry
ranch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ranch
“ranch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ranch. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ranch,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ranch.
Source: ranch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.