A subdivision backyard (by USA word usage)
A yard is an enclosed area of land, usually tied to a building. The word comes from the same linguistic root as the word garden and has many of the same meanings.
A number of derived words exist, usually tied to a particular usage or building type. Some are now archaic. Examples of such words are: courtyard, farmyard, churchyard and stableyard.
Word origin
The word "yard" came from the Anglo-Saxon geard, compare "garden" (German Garten), Old Norse garðr, Russian gorod = "town" (originally as an "enclosed fortified area"), Latin hortus = "garden", Greek χορτος = "hay" (originally as grown in an enclosed field).
In areas where farming is an important part of life, a yard is also a piece of enclosed land for farm animals or other agricultural purpose, often referred to as a cattleyard, sheepyard, stockyard, etc. In Australia portable or mobile yards are sets of transportable steel panels used to build temporary stockyards. [1]
Application of the term
In North America and Australasia today, a yard can be any part of a property surrounding or associated with a house or other residential structure, usually (although not necessarily) separate from a garden (where plant maintenance is more formalized). A yard will typically consist mostly of lawn or play area. The yard in front of a house is referred to as a front yard, the area at the rear is known as a backyard. Backyards are generally more private and are thus a more common location for recreation. Yard size varies with population density. In urban centres, many houses have very small or even no yards at all. In the suburbs, yards are generally much larger and have room for such amenities as a patio, a playplace for children, or a swimming pool.
In British English, these areas would usually be described as a garden, similarly subdivided into a front garden and a back garden, although paved areas may be called a yard -but more usually a patio. In modern Britain, the term yard is often used for depots and land adjacent to or among workplace buildings, as well as uncultivated land adjoining a building.
In Nortn America the usage of the term garden relates to the area that contains productive plants, such as vegetables are put, and the term yard is not necessarily co-extensive with the garden though the garden must be an element of the yard. No such distinction is made in British English. The difference is classically illustrated at [at the entry for 24 May 1891]
[2]
Grass-fed cattle, saleyards,
Walcha, NSW
See also
References
Delbridge, Arthur, The Macquarie Dictionary, 2nd ed., Macquarie Library, North Ryde, 1991
External links
Hurst, Roy; Macka, Bruce. "Beef cattle yards for less than 100 head". NSW Department of Primary Industries, State of New South Wales. http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/beef/equip/yard-design/under-100-head. |
