farm English · revision 3395

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=la firmus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /fɑːm/, US /fɑːrm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|ferme|t=fixed rent, lease]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|ferme|t=a rent, lease]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la-med|firma|t=fixed payment]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|firmāre|t=to fix, settle, confirm]], in Medieval Latin “to contract for”,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|la|firmus|t=firm, stable]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*dher-|t=to hold firmly, support]].^(Etymonline) The verb is from Anglo-French fermer.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[firm]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A fixed yearly payment, a rent: about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) with ''to farm'', “at a fixed rent”, from 1297 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word has a confused history, but there is agreement that the purely agricultural sense is fairly modern.^(Etymonline) A fixed sum accepted instead of taxes, and the letting out of public revenue to a collector, gave the [[farmer]] who collected rents or taxes, from about 1384.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) A tract of leased land is from 1334 in the Rolls of Parliament,^(Barnhart 1988) and cultivated land, leased or not, from the 1520s,^(Etymonline) or 1523 in the OED.^(OED 1989) A tract of water for breeding fish or other animals is from 1866.^(OED 1989) The verb meant “to rent land” from 1435,^(Barnhart 1988) and the agricultural sense, “to cultivate”, is first in Defoe's ''Robinson Crusoe'' (1719).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The old sense survives in ''farm out'', “to lease, subcontract”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) ''Buy the farm'', “to die in battle”, dates from at least the Second World War.^(Etymonline) A different Old English ''feorm'' meant food, provision or a feast.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1297 – ''to farm'', at a fixed rent.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – a fixed rent.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1334 – a tract of leased land.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1384 – ''farmer'', a collector of rents.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1435 – verb, to rent land.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1523 – land held for cultivation.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1719 – verb, to cultivate.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1866 – a fish farm.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An area of land used for growing crops or raising animals.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An area of water used to breed fish or shellfish.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An installation for a particular purpose: ''a wind farm''.^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(baseball)'' A minor-league club that trains players for a major-league team.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To grow crops or raise animals.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To cultivate land.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''farm out'': to send out work to others; to subcontract.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To collect taxes or revenue for a fixed payment.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[farmable]]

+ * [[unfarmed]]

+ * [[farmer]]

+ * [[farming]]

+ * [[farm out]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[firm]]

+ * [[confirm]]

+ * [[affirm]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Merriam-Webster also lists a dialect verb ''farm'', “to cleanse”, from Old English feormian.^(MWU 2024) In the dialects of northern and southern England it meant to clean out or put in order, as a stable.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}