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).
Noun
farmer (plural farmers)
- Someone or something that farms, as:
- A person who works the land and/or who keeps livestock; anyone engaged in agriculture on a farm.
- More specifically, a farm owner, as distinguished from a farmworker or farmhand as a hired employee thereof.
- (historical) One who takes taxes, customs, excise, or other duties, to collect for a certain rate per cent.
- (historical, mining) The lord of the field, or one who farms the lot and cope of the crown.
Usage notes
Farmer is probably the last occupational descriptor to have been used as a prefix to a surname in everyday usage: e.g. Farmer Brown. This usage was common until the mid-twentieth century.
Derived terms
- chicken farmer
- cockatoo farmer
- dairy farmer
- fish farmer
- gold farmer
- pig farmer
- sheep farmer
- tenant farmer
- wind farmer
Related terms
- farm
- farmboy
- farmgirl
- farmhand
- farmman
- farmwoman
Credits
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