Etymologically

Etymology and origin of the Romanian word fermier

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
French fermier
Ultimate origin
French ferme

Forms

fermier m (plural fermieri, feminine equivalent fermieră)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French fermier (“farmer”), according to MDA2, DEX, Scriban and the neologism dictionaries.[2][3][4][5][6][1] The French noun is formed ferme (“farm”) with the suffix -ier.[1] Romanian took fermă from French as well;[2] MDA2 dates it to 1868.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word names both the owner and the leaseholder of a farm.[3][2] The dictionaries of the 1950s limited it to bourgeois society and quoted it of American farmers, while today it is used of any farmer.[7][8][3] The feminine is fermieră.[1][3]

Timeline

  • 1868 – fermă “farm”, the base, first recorded.[2]
  • 1929 – in Șăineanu's dictionary: one who holds or works a farm.[9]
  • 1939 – in Scriban's dictionary, “holder of a farm”.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A farmer: the owner or leaseholder of a farm.[3][2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 896
  3. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 389
  4. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 502
  5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
  6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
  7. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 279
  8. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
  9. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 249

Related etymologies

  • cap · also from French
  • dura · also from French
  • pur · also from French
  • pană · also from French
  • pat · also from French
  • masă · also from French
  • lac · also from French
  • primar · also from French
Cite this entry

“Fermier.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/fermier. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·