farmer

¹

[ fahr-mer ]

noun

1. a person who farms; person who operates a farm or cultivates land.
2. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. an unsophisticated or ignorant person, especially one from a rural area.
3. Archaic. a person who undertakes some service, as the care of children or poor people, at a fixed price.
4. Archaic. a person who undertakes the collection of taxes, duties, etc., paying a fixed sum for the privilege of retaining them.
5. Cards.
   1. a variety of twenty-one played with a 45-card pack, the object being to obtain cards having a total worth of 16.
   2. the dealer in this game.

Farmer

²

[ fahr-mer ]

noun

1. Fannie (Mer·ritt) [mer, -it], 1857–1915, U.S. authority on cooking.
2. James (Leonard), 1920–1999, U.S. civil rights leader; founder of CORE.

Farmer

¹

/ ˈfɑːmə /

noun

1. FarmerJohn?15651605MEnglishMUSIC: composerMUSIC: organist John. ?1565–1605, English madrigal composer and organist

farmer

²

/ ˈfɑːmə /

noun

1. a person who operates or manages a farm
2. a person who obtains the right to collect and retain a tax, rent, etc, or operate a franchise for a specified period on payment of a fee
3. a person who looks after a child for a fixed sum

Sensitive Note

The word farmer has been used as a derogatory term for an ignorant or unsophisticated person, especially one from a rural area (whether an actual farmer or not), since the 1800's. A couple of citations illustrate this. One early example is found in Artie by George Ade (1896): “I may be a farmer, but it takes better people than you to sling the bull con into me,” uttered by the title character Artie, who is a young office worker and not a farmer. A book review in The Guardian (August 21, 2001) shows a more recent use: “I worked in a couple of those bars where you hustle champagne. They were businessmen, they weren't naive farmers.”

Other Words From

• farmer·like adjective
• pro·farmer adjective
• under·farmer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of farmer¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English fermer, fermour, from Anglo-French, Old French fermier “collector of revenue,” from Medieval Latin firmārius “one who holds lands or tenement for a fixed number of years or for life”; farm, -er ²

Example Sentences

The National Farmers Union has called it "disastrous" for family farms, saying it would see farmers forced to sell land to pay the tax.

From BBC

Farmers leaders have been told by Defra that the figures come from the Treasury and not their department.

From BBC

Sam Farmer’s pick: The Rams have three electrifying receivers, and Stafford looks like his best self.

From Los Angeles Times

Area Coroner Rose Farmer said a post-mortem examination was carried out in Antalya, but she had not yet been provided with its results.

From BBC

Farmers burn the remaining stubble of their harvested crops during the months of November and December in order to clear the fields to make way for more planting.

From BBC

Related Words

• grower
• laborer
• peasant
• producer
• rancher