English Online Dictionary. What means farm? What does farm mean?
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /fɑːm/
- (US, Canada) enPR: färm, IPA(key): /fɑɹm/
- Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)m
Etymology 1
Inherited from Middle English ferme, farme (“rent, revenue, produce, factor, stewardship, meal, feast”), influenced by Anglo-Norman ferme (“rent, lease, farm”), from Medieval Latin ferma, firma. There is debate as to whether Medieval Latin acquires this term from Old English feorm (“rent, provision, supplies, feast”), from Proto-Germanic *fermō, *firhuma- (“means of living, subsistence”), from Proto-Germanic *ferhwō (“life force, body, being”), from Proto-Indo-European *perkʷ- (“life, force, strength, tree”), or from Latin firmus (“solid, secure”), from Proto-Italic *fermos, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer-mo-s (“holding”), from the root *dʰer- (“to hold”). If the former etymology is correct, the term is related to Old English feorh (“life, spirit”), Icelandic fjör (“life, vitality, vigour, animation”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍈𐌿𐍃 (fairƕus, “the world”). Compare also Old English feormehām (“farm”), feormere (“purveyor, supplier, grocer”). Cognate with Scots ferm (“rent, farm”).
Alternative forms
- (historical) feorm
Noun
farm (plural farms)
- (countable) A place where agricultural and similar activities take place, especially the growing of crops or the raising of livestock.
- (countable) A tract of land held on lease for the purpose of cultivation.
- (countable, often in combination) A location used for an industrial purpose, having many similar structures.
- (computing, countable) A group of coordinated servers.
- (obsolete) Food; provisions; a meal.
- (obsolete) A banquet; feast.
- (obsolete) A fixed yearly amount (food, provisions, money, etc.) payable as rent or tax.
- (historical) A fixed yearly sum accepted from a person as a composition for taxes or other moneys which he is empowered to collect; also, a fixed charge imposed on a town, county, etc., in respect of a tax or taxes to be collected within its limits.
- (historical) The letting-out of public revenue to a ‘farmer’; the privilege of farming a tax or taxes.
- 1885, Edwards in Encycl. Brit. XIX. 580:
- The first farm of postal income was made in 1672.
- 1885, Edwards in Encycl. Brit. XIX. 580:
- The body of farmers of public revenues.
- The condition of being let at a fixed rent; lease; a lease.
- (historical) A baby farm.
Derived terms
Descendants
- Hawaiian Creole: farm
- → Danish: farm
- → Dutch: farm
- → Finnish: farmi
- → German: Farm
- → Portuguese: farme, farma
- → Yiddish: פֿאַרם (farm)
- → Spanish: farmear
- → Swedish: farm
- → Thai: ฟาร์ม (faam)
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle English fermen, from Anglo-Norman fermer (“to let out for a fixed payment, lease, rent”) ultimately from the same Old English source as Etymology 1. Compare Old English feormian (“to feed, supply with food, sustain”).
Verb
farm (third-person singular simple present farms, present participle farming, simple past and past participle farmed)
- (intransitive) To work on a farm, especially in the growing and harvesting of crops.
- (transitive) To devote (land) to farming.
- (transitive) To grow (a particular crop).
- To give up to another, as an estate, a business, the revenue, etc., on condition of receiving in return a percentage of what it yields; to farm out.
- (obsolete, transitive) To lease or let for an equivalent, e.g. land for a rent; to yield the use of to proceeds.
- (obsolete, transitive) To take at a certain rent or rate.
- (Internet slang, originally online gaming) To engage in grinding (repetitive activity) in a particular area or against specific enemies for a particular drop or item.
- (by extension) To do the same action repeatedly or coordinately on a large scale, in order to attain a result in a way that is considered nonstandard (initially innovative) but usually frowned upon and considered cheating. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)
Derived terms
Translations
See also
- agriculture
- north forty
References
James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Farm”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.
Further reading
- farm on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Etymology 3
From Middle English fermen, from Old English feormian (“to clean, cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *furbēn (“to clean, polish, buff”). Doublet of furbish.
Verb
farm (third-person singular simple present farms, present participle farming, simple past and past participle farmed)
- (UK, dialectal) To cleanse; clean out; put in order; empty; empty out
Anagrams
- AFRM, RFMA
Dalmatian
Alternative forms
- fiarm
Etymology
From Latin firmus. Compare Italian fermo.
Adjective
farm
- still; firm; steady; stationary
Danish
Etymology
Borrowed from English farm.
Noun
farm c (singular definite farmen, plural indefinite farme)
- farm
Declension
Derived terms
References
- “farm” in Den Danske Ordbog
Dutch
Pronunciation
Verb
farm
- inflection of farmen:
- first-person singular present indicative
- (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
- imperative
German
Verb
farm
- singular imperative of farmen
Hawaiian Creole
Etymology
Derived from English farm.
Noun
farm
- (countable) farm (a place where agricultural and similar activities take place, especially the growing of crops or the raising of livestock)
Hungarian
Etymology
Borrowed from English farm.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈfɒrm]
- Hyphenation: farm
- Rhymes: -ɒrm
Noun
farm (plural farmok)
- farm
- Synonyms: tanya, gazdaság, birtok, földbirtok
Declension
References
Further reading
- farm in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
- farm in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).
Icelandic
Noun
farm
- indefinite accusative singular of farmur
Old English
Noun
farm f
- Alternative form of feorm
Volapük
Noun
farm (nominative plural farms)
- farm