agro-

Agro– is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “field,” “soil,” or “crop production.” It is occasionally used in scientific and technical terms, especially in agriculture.

Agro– comes from Greek agrós, meaning “tilled land.”

What are variants of agro-?

When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, agro– becomes agr–.

The form agro– is also related to the Latin-based form agri–, meaning “agriculture,” as in agribusiness. Agri– can also be shortened to agr– before vowels.

Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles for agr– and agri-.

An example of a word that features the form agro– is agrology, “the branch of soil science dealing especially with the production of crops.”

The form agro– means “field,” as we have seen. The –logy part of the word may also look familiar. It is used to denote branches of science, from Greek logía. Agrology literally translates to “field science.”

What are some words that use the combining form agro-?

• agrobiology
• agromania
• agronomics
• agronomy

What are some other forms that agro– may be commonly confused with?

• aer-
• aero-
• ag-

Not every word that begins with the exact letters agro-, such as agrodolce, is necessarily using the combining form agro– to denote “field.” Learn why agrodolce means “sweet-and-sour” at our entry for the word.

The combining form –nomy means “management.” With this in mind, what does agronomy literally mean?