Geography help

bluejester12 said:

I've read definitions and looked at images, but I'm having trouble finding clear distinctions of these types of lands.


What are the differences between a field(non sports), a meadow, and a plain?

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This is a little tricky because a geographer will likely use different definitions than a farmer. I note that the sea floor and the moon both have plains, for instance.

Field often implies that the land was used for agriculture/grazing, and may have been planted with grass crops (for cows, for instance) at one time. Fields tend to be fairly level. But they generally are not actively cultivated and may have long ago been taken over by native/wild grasses and shrubs.

Meadows are areas of grass, and grass-like plants. They may be cultivated but they may be wild grasses, and are used often either for growing hay that is harvested, or for free-grazing.

A plain is mostly level, large, uncultivated and has no trees or very few trees.

Or a meadow can be a treeless space in the mountains that has nothing to do with cultivated areas. It is a tough distinction. Could you elaborate on why you are wondering? Maybe someone can be more specific if we know more.

Meadows are the bits with the bright golden haze.

FWIW, in simple terms, 'field' generally indicates a area for a designated purpose: a farmer's field, a sports field, etc. Even for non-land purposes, such as "My field is electronics", or 'the field of battle'.
A meadow is a larger grassy area, and a plain is an even larger open area, too big to farm(maybe as grazing land?), and with few trees.
In my mind, the distinction is one of size as much of anything, and level of cultivation.
There are more terms for areas of land, depending on location and use. More details might help?

bluejester12 said:

I've read definitions and looked at images, but I'm having trouble finding clear distinctions of these types of lands.


What are the differences between a field(non sports), a meadow, and a plain?

Click to expand...

My understanding is, a non-sports field refers to a what is planted or growing on a space, a farmer's field, a field of flowers. So the reference is to what is on it as much as the space that the something is on.

A meadow and a plain are natural areas, the first is usually an open space within a forest. Plains are wide open grasslands.

Your question has become more interesting than I thought it would be. The term "meadow" is used quite differently by urbanologists, city planners, suburban folks, rural folks, ranchers and biologists/ecologists!

I'm a biologist. So here goes: terms to use for "open spaces": (apologies to cut and paste)

Meadow, mead: an unploughed, unmanaged open area.
Field, a ploughed meadow.
Hayfield, a meadow managed for natural grasses.
Bent, an area of grassland unbounded by fences or hedges. Much larger than a meadow.
Plain, a large open area, mostly flat. Vegetation will depend on rainfall.
Grazing land, ley, pasture, pastureland, lea, shieling: a field covered with grass or herbage and suitable for grazing by livestock
savanna, savannah - a flat grassland in tropical or subtropical regions.
veld, veldt - elevated open grassland in southern Africa.
Heath, an area of open uncultivated land, especially in Britain, with characteristic vegetation of heather, gorse, and coarse grasses.
Bottoms: flat low land along a river or stream.

There appear to be lots of other terms too.

Write, write, write! Not necessarily in that order.