farmer

Etymology

From Middle English fermour (“a steward, bailliff, collector of taxes”), from Old French fermier (“a farmer, a lessee, husbandman, bailliff”), from Medieval Latin firmarius (“one to whom land is rented, a collector of taxes, deputy”), from firma; equivalent to farm +‎ -er. Compare Old English feormere (“a purveyor of a guild, a supplier of food, a grocer, farmer”). More at farm.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɑɹ.mɚ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɑː.mə/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)mə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: farm‧er

Noun

farmer (plural farmers)

1. (agent noun) Someone or something that farms, as:
   1. A person who works the land and/or who keeps livestock; anyone engaged in agriculture on a farm.

      Hyponym: (dated) peasant

      • 2012 December 1, “An internet of airborne things”, in The Economist‎, volume 405, number 8813, page 3 (Technology Quarterly):

        A farmer could place an order for a new tractor part by text message and pay for it by mobile money-transfer. A supplier many miles away would then take the part to the local matternet station for airborne dispatch via drone.

   2. (strictly, especially British) More specifically, a farm owner, as distinguished from a farmworker or farmhand as a hired employee thereof.

      Coordinate terms: farmworker, farmhand

2. (historical) One who takes taxes, customs, excise, or other duties, to collect for a certain rate per cent.

   a farmer of the revenues

3. (historical, mining) The lord of the field, or one who farms the lot and cope of the crown.
4. (Singapore, slang) A regular person; someone who did not receive a prestigious scholarship.
5. (dated) A baby farmer (operator of a rural orphanage).

Anagrams

• framer

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɒrmɛr]
• Hyphenation: far‧mer
• Rhymes: -ɛr

Etymology 1

Ellipsis of farmeröltözet (“denim clothes”) or farmernadrág (“denim jeans”).

Etymology 2

From the German Farmer, from the French fermier (“farmer”), from the Old French ferme (“farm, rental”), from the Medieval Latin ferma, firma (“rent, tribute, food, feast”), from Old English feorm (“rent, provisions, supplies, feast”). More at farm.

Further reading

• (landowner; jeans; denim): farmer in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).
• (landowner, farmer): farmer in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Etymology

Borrowed from English farmer, from Middle English fermor, fermer, fermour, partly from Old French fermier, from Medieval Latin firmārius, from Latin firma; and partly from Old English feormere, from feormian.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfar.mɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -armɛr
• Syllabification: far‧mer

Noun

farmer m pers (female equivalent farmerka)

1. (agriculture) farmer (person who works the land and/or who keeps livestock)

   Synonym: rolnik

Further reading

• farmer in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• farmer in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fârmer/
• Hyphenation: far‧mer

Noun

fȁrmer m (Cyrillic spelling фа̏рмер)

1. farmer