farm
UK /ˈfɑːm/ · US /ˈfɑɹm/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms farms farming farmed the Farm feorm
- noun (countable) A place where agricultural and similar activities take place, especially the growing of crops or the raising of livestock.
- noun (countable) A tract of land held on lease for the purpose of cultivation.
- noun (countable, often in combination) A location used for an industrial purpose, having many similar structures. “antenna farm; fuel farm; solar farm; wind farm”
- noun (computing, countable) A group of coordinated servers. “a render farm”
- noun (obsolete) Food; provisions; a meal.
- noun (obsolete) A banquet; feast.
- noun (obsolete) A fixed yearly amount (food, provisions, money, etc.) payable as rent or tax.
- noun (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.
- verb (intransitive) To work on a farm, especially in the growing and harvesting of crops.
- verb (transitive) To devote (land) to farming.
- verb (transitive) To grow (a particular crop).
- verb 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. “to farm the taxes”
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To lease or let for an equivalent, e.g. land for a rent; to yield the use of to proceeds.
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To take at a certain rent or rate.
- verb (Internet slang, online gaming) To engage in grinding (repetitive activity) in a particular area or against specific enemies for a particular drop or item.
- verb (Internet) To cultivate and/or disseminate through artificial algorithm-incentivized means.
- verb (UK, dialectal) To cleanse; clean out; put in order; empty; empty out “Farm out the stable and pigsty.”
- proper noun (UK, slang) Broadwater Farm, an area of Tottenham, North London, England.
Synonyms
Etymology
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 acquired 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”).
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”).
From Middle English fermen, from Old English feormian (“to clean, cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *furbēn (“to clean, polish, buff”). Doublet of furbish.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The rent of land, --originally paid by reservation of part of its products. [Obs.]
- noun The term or tenure of a lease of land for cultivation; a leasehold. [Obs.]
- verb To lease or let for an equivalent, as land for a rent; to yield the use of to proceeds.
- verb 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; as, to farm the taxes.
Etymology [OE. ferme rent, lease, F. ferme, LL. firma, fr. L. firmus firm, fast, firmare to make firm or fast. See Firm, a. & n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “farm”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details