farmer English · revision 7286

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1385|origins=la-med firma}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfɑː.mə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈfɑɹ.mɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English fermour, fermer, [[bor|xno|fermer]], Old French [[m|fro|fermier|t=lease-holder]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) from Medieval Latin firmarius, from [[m|la-med|firma|t=fixed payment]] (see [[farm]]).^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One who undertakes the collection of taxes or revenues for a fixed sum: about 1385 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A bailiff or steward who cultivated land for its owner is from 1382, and a lessee in general from 1523, both obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(NODE 1998) One who rents land to cultivate, a tenant farmer, is from 1487,^(OED 1989) and in the agricultural sense generally, replacing native [[churl]] and [[husbandman]], it is from the 1590s.^(Etymonline) The lessee of a government monopoly is from 1662.^(OED 1989) A separate, obsolete farmer (about 1440), one who cleans, survives in ''gong-farmer'', a cleaner of privies.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1382 – a bailiff (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1385 – a tax farmer.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1487 – a tenant farmer.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590s – a cultivator of land.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who owns or manages a [[farm]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(historical)'' A person who collected taxes or other revenue in return for a fixed payment.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[farmerlike]]

+ * [[farmer-general]]

+ * [[farmerette]]

+ * [[profarmer]]

+ * [[underfarmer]]

+ * [[dirt farmer]]

+ * [[farmer cheese]]

+ * [[farmer in the dell]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[farm]]

+ * [[farmwoman]]

+ * [[farmhand]]

+ * [[farmland]]

+ * [[firm]]

+ * [[confirm]]

+ * [[affirm]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}