The Plough Changed European Farming
A plow turns soil for planting. One design change reshaped the landscape of northern Europe.
A plow, spelled *plough* in British English, is a tool that cuts and turns soil for sowing. The heavy mouldboard plough transformed northern Europe: earlier scratch ploughs only scored the surface, which suited dry Mediterranean soils, but the mouldboard cut a furrow and turned the sod right over, making the wet clay soils of the north workable for the first time. It needed teams of oxen, which is why medieval villages farmed in shared strips. *Plow* is also the American name for the constellation known in Britain as the Plough.
- A soil-turning tool. *A horse-drawn plow.*
- To turn soil. *Plowing a field.*
- To push through. *Plowing through work.*
- Plough — British spelling. *A plough.*
- Old Norse — *plogr*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | plow | A plow. |
| Verb | plow | Plowing. |
| British | plough | A plough. |
| Agent | plowman | A plowman. |
| Compound | ploughshare | A ploughshare. |
- They plowed the field.Farming.
- She plowed through the report.Figurative.
- Plough is the British spelling.Variant.
Parts of a plough
- Coulter — a blade that cuts the soil vertically
- Share — the horizontal blade slicing under the sod
- Mouldboard — the curved plate that turns the furrow over
- Beam — the frame the parts hang from
- Handles — used to steer the whole assembly
Old English *ploh*, of Germanic origin, related to Old Norse *plogr* and German *Pflug*.
Why did the mouldboard plough matter?
It turned heavy wet clay soils rather than merely scratching them, opening northern Europe to arable farming.
Is plow or plough correct?
Both. Plow is standard in American English, plough in British English.