Land vs. Plot — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Fiza Rafique — Updated on October 30, 2023
"Land" refers to a vast expanse or surface of the earth, while a "Plot" is a measured piece of land designated for a specific purpose. The former is general, the latter specific.
Difference Between Land and Plot
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
"Land" and "Plot" are both terms that denote areas on the Earth's surface, but they're used in different contexts. "Land" is a broad term that encompasses large areas, irrespective of ownership or purpose. It can refer to entire regions, countries, or terrains. In contrast, a "Plot" refers to a specific parcel of land, often demarcated for a particular use or ownership.
When someone refers to "Land," they could be speaking about vast stretches such as forests, mountains, or deserts. This term doesn't necessarily imply ownership or boundaries. On the other hand, "Plot" typically implies ownership or purpose. For instance, someone might purchase a plot of land to build a home or establish a business.
Additionally, "Land" can be used in varied contexts, such as discussions about agriculture, environment, or geography. For instance, agricultural land or marshy land. "Plot," meanwhile, frequently appears in real estate contexts or discussions about land development. When someone buys property, they often buy a specific plot of land.
In essence, while both "Land" and "Plot" pertain to the Earth's surface, their nuances differ significantly. "Land" generally describes larger expanses without specific boundaries, whereas "Plot" is about demarcated pieces of land with clear intentions or ownership attached.
Comparison Chart
Definition
Expansive surface of the Earth
Measured piece of land with a specific purpose or owner
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Scope
Broad, unspecific
Narrow, specific
Ownership Implication
Doesn't necessarily imply ownership
Typically implies ownership
Contexts
Geography, environment, agriculture
Real estate, construction, property development
Size
Can be vast (e.g., lands of a country)
Limited and defined size (e.g., plot for a house)
Compare with Definitions
Land
Ground or soil used for farming.
The farmer tilled the land to plant wheat.
Plot
A plan made in secret by a group of people to do something illegal or harmful
There's a plot to overthrow the government
Land
Land is the solid surface of Earth that is not permanently submerged in water. The vast majority of human activity throughout history has occurred in land areas that support agriculture, habitat, and various natural resources.
Plot
The main events of a play, novel, film, or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence
The plot consists almost entirely of a man and woman falling in love
He outlined his idea for a movie plot
Land
A state of Germany or Austria.
Plot
A small piece of ground marked out for a purpose such as building or gardening
A vegetable plot
Land
Put (someone or something) on land from a boat
He landed his troops at Hastings
Plot
A graph showing the relation between two variables.
Land
Come down through the air and rest on the ground or another surface
We will shortly be landing at Gatwick
A fly landed on Tom's nose
Plot
Secretly make plans to carry out (an illegal or harmful action)
The two men are serving sentences for plotting a bomb campaign
Brother plots against brother
Land
Cause someone to be in (a difficult situation)
His exploits always landed him in trouble
Plot
Devise the sequence of events in (a play, novel, film, or similar work)
In a crime story you have to plot carefully to achieve the surprise at the end
She would plot a chapter as she drove
Land
Inflict (a blow) on someone
I won the fight without landing a single punch
Plot
Mark (a route or position) on a chart
He started to plot lines of ancient sites
Land
The solid ground of the earth.
Plot
A small piece of ground, generally used for a specific purpose
A garden plot.
Land
Ground or soil
Tilled the land.
Plot
A measured area of land; a lot.
Land
A topographically or functionally distinct tract
Desert land.
Prime building land.
Plot
A ground plan, as for a building; a diagram.
Land
A nation; a country.
Plot
See graph1.
Land
The people of a nation, district, or region.
Plot
The pattern or sequence of interrelated events in a work of fiction, as a novel or film.
Land
Lands Territorial possessions or property.
Plot
A secret plan to accomplish a hostile or illegal purpose; a scheme.
Land
Public or private landed property; real estate.
Plot
To represent graphically, as on a chart
Plot a ship's course.
Land
(Law) The solid material of the earth as well as the natural and manmade things attached to it and the rights and interests associated with it.
Plot
To locate (points or other figures) on a graph by means of coordinates.
Land
An agricultural or farming area
Wanted to buy a house on the land.
Plot
To draw (a curve) connecting points on a graph.
Land
Farming considered as a way of life.
Plot
To write or develop the plot of
"I began plotting novels at about the time I learned to read" (James Baldwin).
Land
An area or realm
The land of make-believe.
The land of television.
Plot
To form a plot for; prearrange secretly or deviously
Plot an assassination.
Land
The raised portion of a grooved surface, as on a phonograph record.
Plot
To form or take part in a plot; scheme
Were plotting for months before the attack.
Land
To bring to and unload on land
Land cargo.
Plot
To write or develop the plot for a work of fiction
A good mystery writer must plot well.
Land
To set (a vehicle) down on land or another surface
Land an airplane smoothly.
Land a seaplane on a lake.
Plot
(narratology) The course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means.
Land
(Informal) To cause to arrive in a place or condition
Civil disobedience will land you in jail.
Plot
An area or land used for building on or planting on.
Land
To catch and pull in (a fish)
Landed a big catfish.
Plot
A graph or diagram drawn by hand or produced by a mechanical or electronic device.
Land
(Informal) To win; secure
Land a big contract.
Plot
A secret plan to achieve an end, the end or means usually being illegal or otherwise questionable.
The plot would have enabled them to get a majority on the board.
The assassination of Lincoln was part of a larger plot.
Land
(Informal) To deliver
Landed a blow on his opponent's head.
Plot
Contrivance; deep reach thought; ability to plot or intrigue.
Land
To come to shore
Landed against the current with great difficulty.
Plot
Participation in any stratagem or conspiracy.
Land
To disembark
Landed at a crowded dock.
Plot
A plan; a purpose.
Land
To descend toward and settle onto the ground or another surface
The helicopter has landed.
Plot
Attractive physical attributes of characters involved in a story, originating from ironic juxtaposition with the original meaning (course of the story).
I'm not sure what's happening in that show, I mainly watch it for the plot.
Land
(Informal) To arrive in a place or condition
Landed at the theater too late for the opening curtain.
Landed in trouble for being late.
Plot
To conceive (a crime, misdeed etc).
They had plotted a robbery.
They were plotting against the king.
Land
To come to rest in a certain way or place
Slipped and landed on his shoulder.
Plot
(transitive) To trace out (a graph or diagram).
They plotted the number of edits per day.
Land
The part of Earth which is not covered by oceans or other bodies of water.
Most insects live on land.
Plot
(transitive) To mark (a point on a graph, chart, etc).
Every five minutes they plotted their position.
Land
Real estate or landed property; a partitioned and measurable area which is owned and acquired and on which buildings and structures can be built and erected.
There are 50 acres of land in this estate.
Plot
A small extent of ground; a plat; as, a garden plot.
Land
A country or region.
They come from a faraway land.
Plot
A plantation laid out.
Land
A person's country of origin and/or homeplace; homeland.
Plot
A plan or draught of a field, farm, estate, etc., drawn to a scale.
Land
The soil, in respect to its nature or quality for farming.
Wet land; good or bad land for growing potatoes
Plot
Any scheme, stratagem, secret design, or plan, of a complicated nature, adapted to the accomplishment of some purpose, usually a treacherous and mischievous one; a conspiracy; an intrigue; as, the Rye-house Plot.
I have overheard a plot of death.
O, think what anxious moments pass betweenThe birth of plots and their last fatal periods!
Land
Realm, domain.
I'm going to Disneyland.
Maybe that's how it works in TV-land, but not in the real world.
Plot
A share in such a plot or scheme; a participation in any stratagem or conspiracy.
And when Christ saith, Who marries the divorced commits adultery, it is to be understood, if he had any plot in the divorce.
Land
(agriculture) The ground left unploughed between furrows; any of several portions into which a field is divided for ploughing.
Plot
Contrivance; deep reach of thought; ability to plot or intrigue.
Land
A shock or fright.
He got an awful land when the police arrived.
Plot
A plan; a purpose.
Land
(electronics) A conducting area on a board or chip which can be used for connecting wires.
Plot
In fiction, the story of a play, novel, romance, or poem, comprising a complication of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means.
If the plot or intrigue must be natural, and such as springs from the subject, then the winding up of the plot must be a probable consequence of all that went before.
Land
On a compact disc or similar recording medium, an area of the medium which does not have pits.
Plot
To make a plot, map, pr plan, of; to mark the position of on a plan; to delineate.
This treatise plotteth down Cornwall as it now standeth.
Land
(travel) The non-airline portion of an itinerary. Hotel, tours, cruises, etc.
Our city offices sell a lot more land than our suburban offices.
Plot
To form a scheme of mischief against another, especially against a government or those who administer it; to conspire.
The wicked plotteth against the just.
Land
(obsolete) The ground or floor.
Plot
To contrive a plan or stratagem; to scheme.
The prince did plot to be secretly gone.
Land
(nautical) The lap of the strakes in a clinker-built boat; the lap of plates in an iron vessel; called also landing.
Plot
To plan; to scheme; to devise; to contrive secretly.
Land
In any surface prepared with indentations, perforations, or grooves, that part of the surface which is not so treated, such as the level part of a millstone between the furrows.
Plot
A secret scheme to do something (especially something underhand or illegal);
They concocted a plot to discredit the governor
I saw through his little game from the start
Land
(ballistics) The space between the rifling grooves in a gun.
Plot
A small area of ground covered by specific vegetation;
A bean plot
A cabbage patch
A briar patch
Land
A group of dwellings or tenements under one roof and having a common entry.
Plot
The story that is told in a novel or play or movie etc.;
The characters were well drawn but the plot was banal
Land
Lant; urine
Plot
A chart or map showing the movements or progress of an object
Land
(intransitive) To descend to a surface, especially from the air.
The plane is about to land.
Plot
Plan secretly, usually something illegal;
They plotted the overthrow fo the government
Land
(dated) To alight, to descend from a vehicle.
Plot
Make a schematic or technical drawing of that shows how things work or how they are constructed
Land
(intransitive) To come into rest.
Plot
Make a plat of;
Plat the town
Land
(intransitive) To arrive on land, especially a shore or dock, from a body of water.
Plot
A measured piece of land.
They bought a plot to build their dream home.
Land
(transitive) To bring to land.
It can be tricky to land a helicopter.
Use the net to land the fish.
Plot
The sequence of events in a story.
The plot of the movie was thrilling and unexpected.
Land
To capture or arrest.
Plot
A secret plan or scheme.
There's a plot to overthrow the king.
Land
(transitive) To acquire; to secure.
Plot
A graph or diagram.
The data was represented in a scatter plot.
Land
To succeed in having sexual relations with; to score
Too ugly to ever land a chick
Plot
A burial place.
She visited her grandfather's plot at the cemetery.
Land
(transitive) (of a blow) To deliver.
If you land a knockout blow, you’ll win the match
Land
(intransitive) (of a punch) To connect
If the punches land, you might lose a few teeth!
Land
(intransitive) To go down well with an audience.
Some of the comedian's jokes failed to land.
Land
Urine. See Lant.
Land
The solid part of the surface of the earth; - opposed to water as constituting a part of such surface, especially to oceans and seas; as, to sight land after a long voyage.
They turn their heads to sea, their sterns to land.
Land
Any portion, large or small, of the surface of the earth, considered by itself, or as belonging to an individual or a people, as a country, estate, farm, or tract.
Go view the land, even Jericho.
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,Where wealth accumulates and men decay.
A poor parson dwelling upon land [i.e., in the country].
Land
Ground, in respect to its nature or quality; soil; as, wet land; good or bad land.
Land
The inhabitants of a nation or people.
These answers, in the silent night received,The king himself divulged, the land believed.
Land
The mainland, in distinction from islands.
Land
The ground or floor.
Herself upon the land she did prostrate.
Land
The ground left unplowed between furrows; any one of several portions into which a field is divided for convenience in plowing.
Land
Any ground, soil, or earth whatsoever, as meadows, pastures, woods, etc., and everything annexed to it, whether by nature, as trees, water, etc., or by the hand of man, as buildings, fences, etc.; real estate.
Land
The lap of the strakes in a clinker-built boat; the lap of plates in an iron vessel; - called also landing.
Land
In any surface prepared with indentations, perforations, or grooves, that part of the surface which is not so treated, as the level part of a millstone between the furrows, or the surface of the bore of a rifled gun between the grooves.
Land
To set or put on shore from a ship or other water craft; to disembark; to debark.
I 'll undertake to land them on our coast.
Land
To catch and bring to shore; to capture; as, to land a fish.
Land
To set down after conveying; to cause to fall, alight, or reach; to bring to the end of a course; as, he landed the quoit near the stake; to be thrown from a horse and landed in the mud; to land one in difficulties or mistakes.
Land
To pilot (an airplane) from the air onto the land; as, to land the plane on a highway.
Land
To come to the end of a course; to arrive at a destination, literally or figuratively; as, he landed in trouble; after hithchiking for a week, he landed in Los Angeles.
Land
To go on shore from a ship or boat; to disembark.
Land
To reach and come to rest on land after having been in the air; as, the arrow landed in a flower bed; the golf ball landed in a sand trap; our airplane landed in Washington.
Land
The land on which real estate is located;
He built the house on land leased from the city
Land
Material in the top layer of the surface of the earth in which plants can grow (especially with reference to its quality or use);
The land had never been plowed
Good agricultural soil
Land
The solid part of the earth's surface;
The plane turned away from the sea and moved back over land
The earth shook for several minutes
He dropped the logs on the ground
Land
Territory over which rule or control is exercised;
His domain extended into Europe
He made it the law of the land
Land
The territory occupied by a nation;
He returned to the land of his birth
He visited several European countries
Land
A domain in which something is dominant;
The untroubled kingdom of reason
A land of make-believe
The rise of the realm of cotton in the south
Land
Extensive landed property (especially in the country) retained by the owner for his own use;
The family owned a large estate on Long Island
Land
The people who live in a nation or country;
A statement that sums up the nation's mood
The news was announced to the nation
The whole country worshipped him
Land
A politically organized body of people under a single government;
The state has elected a new president
African nations
Students who had come to the nation's capitol
The country's largest manufacturer
An industrialized land
Land
United States inventor who incorporated Polaroid film into lenses and invented the one-step photographic process (1909-1991)
Land
Working the land as an occupation or way of life;
Farming is a strenuous life
There's no work on the land any more
Land
Reach or come to rest;
The bird landed on the highest branch
The plane landed in Istanbul
Land
Cause to come to the ground;
The pilot managed to land the airplane safely
Land
Bring into a different state;
This may land you in jail
Land
Bring ashore;
The drug smugglers landed the heroin on the beach of the island
Land
Deliver (a blow);
He landed several blows on his opponent's head
Land
Arrive on shore;
The ship landed in Pearl Harbor
Land
Shoot at and force to come down;
The enemy landed several of our aircraft
Land
Relating to or characteristic of or occurring on land;
Land vehicles
Sea stories
Sea smells
Sea traffic
Land
Operating or living or growing in water;
Boats are aquatic vehicles
Water lilies are aquatic plants
Fish are aquatic animals
Land
The solid surface of the Earth.
The land stretched out endlessly before them.
Land
Territory or ground of any kind.
They traveled across many lands to reach their destination.
Land
A nation or state.
The laws of this land protect its citizens.
Land
A realm or domain of particular conditions.
In the land of dreams, anything is possible.
Common Curiosities
Can "land" refer to a domain or area of interest?
Yes, e.g., "land of opportunity."
Is a "plot" always small?
No, a "plot" can vary in size, but it's defined and specific.
Is "land" always owned by someone?
No, "land" doesn't necessarily imply ownership.
Does a "plot" always have boundaries?
Typically, a "plot" is a demarcated piece of land with defined boundaries.
Does "plot" always refer to real estate?
No, "plot" can also refer to a story sequence or a scheme.
Do "plots" always have legal documentation?
Typically, owned or purchased plots have legal documentation.
Can "land" refer to a country or region?
Yes, "land" can refer to a nation or a broad territory.
Can "land" denote an environment or condition?
Yes, e.g., "a land of confusion."
Can "land" mean ground used for agriculture?
Yes, it can refer to ground used for farming.
What's larger, "land" or "plot"?
Generally, "land" has a broader scope than a "plot."
Can a "plot" be used for various purposes?
Yes, including building, gardening, or burial, among others.
Can a "plot" refer to a graph?
Yes, a "plot" can be a graphical representation of data.
Can "land" refer to a physical or metaphorical space?
It can refer to both, e.g., physical ground or "land of dreams."
Is all "land" usable for construction or agriculture?
No, the usability of "land" varies based on its features and regulations.
Is a "plot" always part of some "land"?
Yes, a "plot" is a specific section of "land."
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Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
