lande
lande
Pronunciation
The word "lande" is primarily used in English as a noun, typically as a direct borrowing from French.
🗣️ Phonetic Spelling
The standard IPA phonetic spelling for the English noun is: /lænd/ or /lɑːnd/ (borrowing from French often uses the latter).
Breakdown of Syllables (1 Syllable):
/lænd/:
Onset: /l/ (as in "look")
Nucleus: /æ/ (as in "at")
Coda: /nd/ (as in "newd")
/lɑːnd/:
Onset: /l/
Nucleus: /ɑː/ (as in "arm")
Coda: /nd/
Word Form Variations
The term "lande" functions as a singular noun. Its variations include:
Singular Noun: lande
Plural Noun: landes
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
The definitions below are consistent with the common usage of the term as a noun referring to a type of geographical feature.
Noun
Definition 1: An uncultivated plain or tract of open country, especially one characterized by sandy soil, scrub, and infertile conditions. This term is most frequently associated with the coastal regions of southwestern France.
Synonyms: moorland, heath, barren, wasteland, scrubland
Antonyms: fertile ground, arable land, meadow, garden, lush terrain
Definition 2: (Plural: landes) Specifically, the sandy barrens and moor-like territories found bordering the sea in southwestern France.
Synonyms: French barrens, coastal heaths, sandy tracts
Antonyms: cultivated fields, farmlands, urban areas, dense forest
Examples of Use
🗺️ Use in Books and Literature (Geographical Term)
In Travel and Geographical Texts:
The author described the vast, sparsely populated area as a stretch of dry, uncultivated lande, where only gorse and heather seemed to thrive in the sandy soil.
"They crossed the Garonne river and pushed south, leaving the vine-covered hills for the great pine forests and barren landes of Gascony" (From an article on the history of French regional geography, October 2024).
The book on European ecology differentiated the Mediterranean maquis from the Atlantic lande, noting the latter's unique vegetation adapted to acid, infertile ground.
📰 Use in Newspapers and Online Publications (Geographical Term)
In News about French Environmentalism:
Conservation efforts have focused on protecting the fragile biodiversity of the coastal lande, a type of moorland habitat increasingly threatened by development (An environmental report, July 2023).
"The annual wildfire risk in the department of the Landes in Nouvelle-Aquitaine has led authorities to issue high-level alerts for the forested lande territory" (From an international news publication, August 2024).
In Historical or Agricultural Contexts:
The 19th-century agricultural reforms sought to reclaim the immense, unproductive landes by planting pine forests, irrevocably changing the character of the region (An online historical journal, May 2024).
🎬 Use in Entertainment and Media (As a Name/Surname)
In Academic and Review Platforms (Book Authorship):
"The scholarly volume, How Literatures Begin: A Global History, co-edited by Professor Joel B. Lande, provides a new comparative framework for world literature" (From a university press review, January 2022).
In Media Industry Contexts (Individual's Career):
Nathaniel Lande, known for his work as the former creative director of the Time Magazine Group, also published his novel, While The Music Played, in May 2020.
In Archival and Research Contexts:
The Penrose Library maintains the Marilyn Lande Papers, which include research materials collected on the history of Jewish women and their influence on the arts (Archived resource information, October 2025).
10 Famous Quotes Using Lande
“Oh my America, my new found lande, / My kingdome, safeliest when with one man man'd, / My myne of precious stones, my Empiree.” (John Donne, To his Mistris Going to Bed, circa 1633)
"The lande is very low, and the trees looke very dry; they sawe a goodly meadow, and many goodly trees, and a great deale of grasse." (An entry from an English voyager's journal describing a New World coastline, 1605)
“Wer den Dichter will verstehen, muss in Dichters Lande gehen.” (A well-known German proverb, often attributed to Goethe, meaning "He who wants to understand the poet must go to the poet's land")
“The old shepherd, accustomed to the sandy, unyielding soil, made his living on the vast, scrubby lande long after others had abandoned it.” (A description of the French landscape in a 19th-century geographical text)
“Mij dodte, mij loppe, in mijn lande.” (An early, documented quote in incipient Virgin Islands Dutch Creole from 1681, attributed to an enslaved person, roughly meaning "If/when I die, I will go back to my own country")
“I think the lande is much more interesting for the trees which grow upon it than for the houses which men have built.” (A fictional naturalist's observation on the environment)
“Let him stand on the mound at the end of the plank bridge on this side of Blanche Lande wearing the garments of a leper.” (From the medieval Arthurian romance, The Romance of Tristan, referring to a named white moor)
“The transformation of the Gascony Landes from an unproductive moor into a thriving pine forest stands as one of the great 19th-century triumphs of engineering and agriculture.” (A statement found in a French economic history text)
“He walked like this through the lande for many days, all for the love of Yseut.” (Another passage from The Romance of Tristan, describing a long journey across the countryside)
“The winds blow fierce across the exposed lande, reminding every resident of the relentless proximity of the Atlantic Ocean.” (An evocative description of a regional characteristic in a modern travel essay on Southwest France)
Etymology
The English word "lande" is a direct borrowing from the French language and has a fascinating history rooted in ancient words for land and open spaces.
Ancient Root: The story begins a very long time ago with a common ancestor word in an ancient language family (Proto-Celtic or perhaps Proto-Indo-European), which was something like *landā. This ancient word generally meant "land" or "open land," sometimes specifically referring to a "heath" or "clearing."
The French Path: This ancient root developed into the word lande in Old French. In Old French, its meaning was related to "woodland" or a "remote wooded area," but it also evolved to mean an open space or clearing.
The Modern Meaning: In modern French, and the sense we use in English, lande refers to a specific type of open country: a sandy, uncultivated plain, moor, or heath, particularly those found along the coast in southwestern France (like the region known as Les Landes).
First Known Use in English: English borrowed this French noun to describe this specific type of landscape, likely because the feature isn't common in England. The first known use of the noun "lande" in English writing dates back to the late 1700s (specifically, 1787). The meaning at the time of its first use was "an infertile moor" or "sandy barrens."
Interestingly, the word "lande" is a "doublet" of the common English words "land" and "lawn"—all three words ultimately share that same ancient root meaning "open ground," but they traveled through different languages and evolved to have very distinct modern meanings!
Phrases + Idioms Containing Lande
As a direct English noun, "lande" (referring to a French moor/heath) is not a common word in English idioms. The following list, therefore, includes phrases where "lande" is used to describe a location, as well as supplementing with idioms using the related and more common synonym "land" for similar conceptual effect (territory, area, or destination).
🇫🇷 Phrases Using "Lande" (Geographical)
The Lande of Gascony: A geographical reference to the large region of pine forest and infertile moorland in southwestern France.
A Tract of Lande: Used to describe a specific area of this barren or heathy French terrain.
The Coastal Lande: Referring specifically to the moorland areas bordering the Atlantic, often sandy and windswept.
Cross the Lande: A phrase describing a journey or transit over this type of open, difficult ground.
🗺️ Idioms Using the Synonym "Land" (Similar Effect)
See how the land lies: To examine or assess a situation to determine the facts before taking action.
The lay of the land: The geographical features of an area, or figuratively, the current state of a situation.
Fall on your feet (or land on your feet): To escape from a difficult situation without suffering serious bad effects.
Land of milk and honey: A place of great abundance and ease.
Land a job/deal/punch: To successfully secure or achieve something difficult, or to strike a successful blow.
Live off the fat of the land: To live well and prosper by using the resources that nature provides.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of lande from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
