A Farm Was Originally a Fixed Rent
A farm is land used for growing crops. The word first meant the fixed payment made for holding it.
A farm is an area of land used for growing crops or raising animals. The word began as a financial term: medieval Latin *firma* meant a fixed payment, and to hold land *at farm* was to pay a set rent for it rather than a share of the produce. The land took the name of the arrangement. *Farming out* work keeps the original sense exactly — contracting something out for a fixed price — and tax farmers once bought the right to collect revenue.
- Agricultural land. *A dairy farm.*
- A fixed rent (archaic). *Held at farm.*
- To cultivate. *They farm sheep.*
- Farm out — contract out. *Farm out the work.*
- Latin — *firma*, a fixed payment. *The root.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | farm | A farm. |
| Plural | farms | Farms. |
| Verb | farm | Farming. |
| Agent | farmer | A farmer. |
| Latin | firma | A fixed payment. |
- They run a hill farm.Land.
- The work was farmed out.Idiom.
- Firma meant a fixed payment.Etymology.
The firma family
- Farm — land held for a fixed rent
- Firm — a business, from a signature confirming an agreement
- Confirm — to make firm
- Affirm — to state firmly
- All rest on Latin *firmus*, steady or fixed
Medieval Latin *firma*, a fixed payment, from Latin *firmus*, fixed or steady.
Why does farm come from a word for payment?
To hold land at farm meant paying a fixed rent for it. The land came to be named after the arrangement.
What does farm out mean?
To contract work to someone else for a set price, which preserves the word's original financial sense.