1610s, "relating to the land," from Middle French agrarienne, from Latin agrarius "of the land," from ager (genitive agri) "a field," from PIE root *agro- "field." Specialized meaning "having to do with cultivated land" first recorded 1792. Originally, and often subsequently, "pertaining to the division or sharing of landed property," which was the Roman sense. Earlier in English as agrarie (1530s), from Latin agraria.
