Etymology and origin of the Romanian word fermă
fermă1 farm
Etymology tree of fermă1
From the same root · fermă1
Forms
fermă f (plural ferme)[1]
Etymology
The word for the farm is borrowed from French ferme (“farm”), a 19th-century loan.[2][3][4][1] DHLF derives the French noun from the verb fermer in its Old French sense “to fix firmly”; it was first a legal term for a lease (about 1160), came to mean the leased estate in 1539, and then any farm.[5] In England Medieval Latin firma (“lease”) is recorded in 1100.[5] Scriban and Graur relate the French word to Latin firmus (“firm”), the source of Romanian ferm.[6][7]
Earliest recorded meaning
Tiktin's first record is from 1836, for a farm.[4] MDA2 dates it from Ion Ionescu's agricultural survey of Mehedinți of 1868.[2]
Semantic evolution
Early dictionaries define the word as a leased estate with its buildings and the fermă-model, an agricultural school where new methods were taught.[8][6][9] Under socialism it named a unit of a state or collective farm raising one kind of animal, and a capitalist farm was described as producing for profit.[10] The press used fermă-pilot and fermă-etalon for model farms.[11]
Timeline
- 1836 – first record.[4]
- 1868 – in Ion Ionescu's survey of Mehedinți.[2]
- 1929 – fermă-model in Șăineanu's dictionary.[8]
Meanings
Noun
fermă2 truss
Etymology tree of fermă2
From the same root · fermă2
Forms
fermă f (plural ferme)[1]
Etymology
The word for the roof truss is borrowed from French ferme (“truss”).[2][3] The French technical term is recorded from 1344 for an assembly of timbers that carry the ridge;[3][1] DHLF derives it from the verb fermer in the sense “to fix”.[12]
Earliest recorded meaning
MDA2's first record is the Lexiconul tehnic român (1949–1955).[2]
Timeline
- 1949 – first record, in the technical lexicon.[2]
Meanings
Noun
Related words
Usage notes
Fermă is also the feminine of the adjective ferm “firm”, a separate loan from French.[3][1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 896
- ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 389
- ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. fermă
- ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. ferme
- ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 502
- ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 45
- ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 248
- ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. fermă
- ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 279
- ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. fermă
- ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. fermer
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Fermă.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/ferm%C4%83. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.
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