To Farm Originally Meant to Rent
A farmer works the land. The word came from a fixed rent, which is why tax collection was once called tax farming.
A farmer cultivates land or raises livestock. The word began as a financial term: a *farm* was a fixed annual rent, from Latin *firma*, a fixed payment. Someone who farmed land paid a set sum and kept the produce. The same arrangement applied to taxes, and *tax farming* — buying the right to collect revenue — kept the original sense for centuries.
- One who works the land. *A dairy farmer.*
- To cultivate. *Farm the valley.*
- To contract out. *Farm out the work.*
- Tax farming — buying the right to collect taxes. *Tax farming under the Romans.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | farmer | A tenant farmer. |
| Plural | farmers | Local farmers. |
| Verb | farm | Farm the land. |
| Noun | farm | A mixed farm. |
| Phrasal | farm out | Farm out the job. |
How it is used in a sentence
- They farmed out the manufacturing.Contracted it elsewhere.
- A tenant farmer rents the land.The original arrangement.
- Firm and farm share a root.Latin *firmus*, fixed.
Words from *firmus*, fixed
- Farm — a fixed rent
- Firm — steady, and a business partnership
- Confirm — to make firm
- Affirm — to state firmly
- Infirm — not firm, weak
From Medieval Latin *firma*, a fixed payment, from Latin *firmus*, steadfast. The agricultural sense followed from the rental one.
Are firm and farm related?
Yes. Both come from Latin *firmus*, fixed. A farm was a fixed rent before it was a piece of land.
What was tax farming?
A system in which private individuals paid the state a fixed sum for the right to collect taxes and keep whatever they gathered.