Etymologically
Log in

farmland

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word farmland

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1357 Manorial Documents (1357–8)
Ultimate origins
Old French fermeProto-Germanic *land
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English farm
English farmland

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈfɑːmlænd/[1]
  • US: /ˈfɑːɹmlænd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English farm + land,[2][3][4][5] perhaps at first as a reinterpretation of late Old English feormeland (“land yielding food rent”), recorded in the Northamptonshire Geld Roll, a text composed in 1072–8.[2] The OED notes that the place name “Fermelaundes” in Cumberland (1292, now Farmlands) may imply earlier use, though it may show either the English compound or the Old English word.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Leased or rented land: 1357–8, in manorial documents.[2] Etymonline also dates the word to the mid-14th century,[3] while Merriam-Webster's first date is 1638[4] and Dictionary.com's 1630–40.[5]

Semantic evolution

The first element, farm, meant in Middle English a fixed payment or rent, then from the early 14th century a tract of leased land; the sense of cultivated land, leased or not, is recorded only from the 1520s.[3] Farmland followed the same shift: originally land held on lease or for rent, it now usually means land used or suitable for agriculture, especially for growing crops.[2]

Timeline

  • 1357 – leased or rented land.[2]
  • 1638 – land used or suitable for farming.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Land used for farming or suitable for it, especially for growing crops: New housing is spreading over good farmland.[4][6][2][7]
  2. (historical) Land held on a lease or for rent.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Cite this entry

“Farmland.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/farmland. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·