firma

Forms

firma f (genitive firmae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[1] It is, according to the DMLBS and Niermeyer, borrowed from Old English feorm (“food, provision, feast”);^[2][3] Niermeyer and Köbler add that its sense was influenced by firmus (“firm, fixed”) and firmō (“to make firm, confirm”).^[2][3][4] The MLW instead derives it from that verb,^[5] as does Etymonline, for which it is a “fixed payment”.^[6] If it is from Old English, it is related to feorh (“life”).^[1] Through Old French ferme (“rent, lease”) it is the source of English farm.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first dated use is in an English charter of about 945 (known from a 13th-century copy), where two villages must feed a monastic community for three days or pay prō firmā instead.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In England it first meant a food-rent, provisions owed for a set number of days or nights, and a feast or banquet.^[2][3] Niermeyer adds compulsory hospitality, and then the lease at a fixed rent, a farmed office or other source of revenue, and a farmed manor.^[3] Continental charters use it for a rent or lease (ad firmam) and for the leased estate.^[5] Etymonline takes the English word farm from the sense “fixed payment”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 945 – An English charter allows a payment prō firmā instead of food.^[2]
• 1012–1018 – Thietmar of Merseburg uses it for an oath.^[5][4]
• 1205/16 – A Westphalian charter has a tithe taken ad firmam, at rent.^[5]
• c. 1300 – English farm, “fixed payment”, comes from it through Old French.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A food-rent, provisions owed for a set period.^[2]
2. (Medieval Latin) A banquet, feast; compulsory hospitality.^[3][2]
3. (Medieval Latin) A farm, lease at a fixed rent; the rent itself.^[3][5][1]
4. (Medieval Latin) A farmed office or source of revenue; a farmed manor.^[3][5]
5. (Medieval Latin) An oath, especially one sworn by a claimant in court.^[3][5]

Related words

• firmus
• firmō
• English farm

Usage notes

Niermeyer gives the judicial oath as a separate word, derived from firmō.^[3] Köbler also records a firma “cage for young hawks”, from Old French.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com