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

Most of the avocado producers in the Mountain Fire burn area are small-scale farmers, Bell said: “They have a small couple acres here or there.”

From Los Angeles Times

The Biden administration has recently been funding programs that pay farmers to temporarily reduce water use in exchange for payments.

From Los Angeles Times

“It’s a sad commentary Senate Democrats kept farmers waiting two years before releasing the Farm Bill text,” Grassley said.

From Salon

Department of Agriculture operates natural disaster relief programs for eligible farmers that aim to help repair damage to farmlands, provide financial assistance or offer emergency loans, depending on their situation.

From Los Angeles Times

It is a sentiment shared over changes in the Budget to inheritance tax for farmers, which prompted protests in London on Tuesday.

From BBC

Related Words

• grower
• laborer
• peasant
• producer
• rancher