Dictionary

rancher en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree English ranch Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English rancher From ranch + -er.

Meanings

1. A person who operates a ranch.
   • That story begins in rural Wyoming in 1963, when drifters Ennis and Jack are hired by a local rancher to herd sheep through grazing ground on the titular Brokeback Mountain. 2025 June 20, Nick Levine, “'In every theatre, people would leave': How 'gay cowboy movie' Brokeback Mountain challenged Hollywood – and the US”, in BBC, archived from the original on 02 Oct 2025:
2. (US) A ranch-style house.
   • By the 1960s in North America sprawling ranchers and backsplits with attached garages had become common […] 1987, E. C. Relph, The Modern Urban Landscape: 1880 to the Present, page 174:
   • We know that if a realtor got a listing for a rancher in the neighborhood of property one: that similar houses there will sell, with some effort, for about $59,000. 2009, Thomas Collins, How to Invest in Real Estate, page 21:

Forms

Relateds

ranchman · ranchgirl · ranchboy · cattleman · guest rancher · dude rancher · ranchwoman

Synonyms

ranchhouse

Translations (4)

grc κτηνοτρόφος (person who operates a ranch) · eo ranĉisto (person who operates a ranch) · da rancher (person who operates a ranch) · la pecuārius (person who operates a ranch)