farmer

¹ American  

[fahr-mer] / ˈfɑr mər /

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.

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Farmer ² American  

[fahr-mer] / ˈfɑr mər /

noun

1. Fannie (Merritt) 1857–1915, U.S. authority on cooking.

2. James (Leonard), 1920–1999, U.S. civil rights leader; founder of CORE.

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farmer ¹ British  

/ 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

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Farmer ² British  

/ ˈfɑːmə /

noun

1. John. ?1565–1605, English madrigal composer and organist

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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 Word Forms

• farmerlike adjective
• profarmer adjective
• underfarmer noun

Etymology

Origin of farmer

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”; see origin at farm, -er ²

Explanation

A farmer is a person who runs and works on a farm. Some farmers raise a variety of food crops, while others keep dairy cows and sell their milk. Farmers work in some aspect of agriculture, growing vegetables, grains, or fruit; or raising animals for milk, eggs, or meat. A small farmer manages a relatively small piece of land, often growing different crops and keeping hens for their eggs, for example. Some farmers own their farms, while others rent the land on which they work. In the 14th century, a farmer was "one who collects taxes," from the Old French fermier, "lease holder."

Example Sentences

After a near fatality, he is saved by Carlos, a farmer and former combat medic battling his own trauma from the Mexican-American War.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

“While positive, leverage remains high for a business with volatile earnings, and we would like to see more evidence of stabilization in crop-protection markets given pressured farmer profitability,” Jefferies says.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

National Farmers Union North Regional Board Chair and a farmer himself William Maughan said "thorough, meaningful and clear" engagement with farmers was crucial for the project's success.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026

One farmer described fields ready to harvest but no diesel to bring the crops in.

From Salon • Apr. 11, 2026

PPS I asked Gregory if he had any tips on how to be an exceptional poultry farmer.

From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones

Related Words

• grower
• laborer
• peasant
• producer
• rancher