hinterland
/ˈhɪntərˌlænd/The quiet rural area lying behind a coast or beyond a big city, away from the busy parts.
Example: Few visitors ever explore the hinterland behind the resorts.
C222 words · Proficient
Countryside vocabulary — C2
Countryside vocabulary for terrain described precisely, including scree, gorse and loam, plus a hamlet, a homestead and the hinterland around them.
22 questions
Words in this set
22hamlet
/ˈhæmlət/A cluster of only a few houses in the country, smaller than a village and with no shops.
Example:
Their farm sits in a hamlet of six stone houses.
idyll
/ˈaɪdəl/A very happy, peaceful period or situation, especially in the countryside.
Example:
Their rural idyll was interrupted by the new motorway.
husbandry
/ˈhʌzbəndri/The care and breeding of farm animals and crops.
Example:
The college teaches courses in animal husbandry.
arboreal
/ɑrˈbɔriəl/Living in or relating to trees.
Example:
The squirrel is an arboreal creature, rarely on the ground.
sylvan
/ˈsɪlvən/Relating to woods or forests, often used in a literary way.
Example:
The path wound through a sylvan setting of tall pines.
fallow
/ˈfæˌloʊ/Land left unplanted for a period so it can recover its fertility.
Example:
The field was left fallow for a whole season.
topography
/təˈpɑɡrəfi/The physical features of an area of land, such as its hills and valleys.
Example:
The region's rugged topography makes farming difficult.
escarpment
/ɛˈskɑrpmənt/A long, steep slope, especially one separating two areas of land at different heights.
Example:
The village sits below a dramatic escarpment.
homestead
/ˈhoʊmˌstɛd/A house and its surrounding land, especially on a farm.
Example:
The family has farmed the same homestead for generations.
bracken
/ˈbrækən/A large coarse fern that covers open ground on hills.
Example:
By August the bracken is chest-high and hides the path.
gorse
A prickly evergreen bush with bright yellow flowers.
Example:
Gorse flowers somewhere on that hill in every month of the year.
scree
Loose broken stones on the side of a mountain.
Example:
The last hundred metres is scree and takes longer than the rest.
tor
/tɔr/A high rocky outcrop on the top of a hill.
Example:
The tor is visible from three counties on a clear day.
spinney
/ˈspɪni/A small area of trees and bushes.
Example:
Pheasants were driven out of the spinney towards the guns.
loam
/loʊm/Rich dark soil that is good for growing things.
Example:
The loam here is two feet deep and holds water beautifully.
silt
/sɪlt/Fine sand and soil carried by a river and left behind.
Example:
A century of silt has made the harbour too shallow for trawlers.
alluvial
/ˌæˈluviəl/Made of soil left behind by a river.
Example:
The alluvial flats grow better wheat than anywhere in the county.
heathland
Open uncultivated land with poor sandy soil and low shrubs.
Example:
The heathland is managed by grazing rather than cutting.
husbandman
An old word for a farmer who works the land himself.
Example:
The parish register lists him as a husbandman rather than a labourer.
watershed
/ˈwɔtərˌʃɛd/The line of high ground separating two river systems.
Example:
The watershed runs along the spine of the whole range.
crofting
A way of farming small rented plots of land, especially in Scotland.
Example:
Crofting kept a few hundred families on the island through the worst decades.
