farm

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“
My father died in the early years of a long lease of twenty-one years, when he had laid out several thousands, all the capital he had, and all he could raise, upon the land, hoping to get it out again with interest and a large profit, for the farm was a fine one, though it had been badly managed before.

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Definitions (38)

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  1. noun A tract of land cultivated for the purpose of agricultural production.
  2. noun A tract of land devoted to the raising and breeding of domestic animals.
  3. noun An area of water devoted to the raising, breeding, or production of a specific aquatic animal: a trout farm; an oyster farm.
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Etymologies (5)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, lease, leased property, from Old French ferme, from Medieval Latin firma, fixed payment, from Latin firmāre, to establish, from firmus, firm; see dher- in Indo-European roots.

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  1. Early modern English also farme, ferme; from Middle English ferme, rent, revenue, particularly as collected by a ‘farmer,’ factor, or steward, hence also stewardship; also a meal, a feast; from Anglo-Saxon feorm (feminine, genitive accusative etc., feorme), provision, food, supplies; provisions, etc., supplied by a vassal or tenant to his lord, especially to the king; hence an estate from which such supplies are due (cyninges feorm, late Anglo-Saxon cynges feorme-hām, ‘king's farm’); hence also a meal, a feast, and, generally, entertainment (of a guest or, as a tenant's duty, of his lord), harboring (of a fugitive); also, rarely, use, advantage (later feormian, ge-feormian, supply with food, sustain, entertain, receive (a guest), harbor (a fugitive), etc., later feormere, a purveyor (of a guild), feormung, and fyrmth, a harboring (of fugitives), etc.); orig. perhaps ‘a living, means of subsistence,’ connected with feorh, life, = Old Saxon ferah, ferh = OHG ferah, ferh, Middle High German verch = Icelandic fjör, life, = Gothic (Moesogothic) fairhwus, the world. But as Anglo-Saxon feorm is always rendered in Middle Latin by firma or ferma, which is formally identical with the feminine of Latin firmus, Middle Latin often spelled fermus (later Old French ferme, Middle English ferme, later modern English, with restored L. vowel, firm), most writers have assumed the actual identity of the two words (Latin firma, feminine adjective, and Middle Latin firma or ferma, n.), “either because the farms were at first inclosed or fortified with walls, or because the leases were confirmed or made more certain by signature”: see firm, adjective, firm, v., firm, n. But the Anglo-Saxon form appears to be the original. The Middle Latin ferma, firma has the Anglo-Saxon senses, and, later, the senses of rent, revenue, particularly as collected by a farmer or factor, also in general a tax, tribute, impost. Hence Old French ferme, French ferme = Provencal ferma, in same senses, the Old French being partly the source of the Middle English form. The mixture of forms and senses has confused the history of the word. The purely agricultural sense is comparatively modern.
  2. from Middle English fermen, take on lease, from ferme, n.: see farm, n.
  3. Middle English ferme, later farme, from Anglo-Saxon feorm, a meal; ult. the same as farm, n., q. v.
  4. English dial.; from Middle English *fermen (not found), from Anglo-Saxon feormian, also in comp. ā-feormian, ge-feormian, cleanse, polish, prob. altered (by confusion with the quite different word feormian, supply, entertain, etc.: see farm) from feorbian, *furbian = Old High German furbjan, Middle High German vürben, cleanse, polish, rub bright, later Old French furbir, fourbir (fourbiss-), whence Middle English fourbishen, English furbish: see furbish.
 

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