See Also: feu-farm(dictionary)
FEE FARM, Eng(law)
farm(1)(dictionary)
Buy the Farm(money)
farm(medicine)
farm(2)(dictionary)
fat farm(dictionary)
fee-farm(dictionary)
farm(dictionary)
collective farm(encyclopedia)

farm(1) (iou)



farm noun. [f¨»:m] ME.
[Old & mod. French ferme from medieval Latin firma fixed payment, from Latin firmare fix, settle, confirm, (in medieval Latin) contract for, from Latin firmus FIRM adjective.]
Hist.
a. A fixed annual amount, in money or kind, payable as rent, tax, etc. ME.
b. A fixed annual sum accepted as composition for taxes or other moneys collected. Also, a fixed charge imposed on a town, county, etc., to be collected within its limits. LME.
c. The allowing of a person to collect and keep the revenues from taxes etc. in return for a fixed sum; the privilege of so collecting taxes etc. M17.
The condition or arrangement of being let at a fixed rent (in have in farm, let in farm, set to farm, etc.). ME.
A lease. L15-M17.
A tract of land held (orig. on lease) under one management for the purposes of cultivation or the rearing of certain animals (for food or fur etc.). See also funny farm s.v. FUNNY adjective, HEALTH farm. E16.
dairy farm, mink farm, poultry farm, etc. bet the farm N. Amer. colloq. risk all that one owns by backing a particular project, investment, etc. buy the farm N. Amer. colloq. die. collective farm: see COLLECTIVE adjective 4. home farm: see HOME adjective. SEWAGE farm.
J. R. Green The farms of Lothian have become models of agricultural skill.
b. A tract or tracts of water used for the breeding or rearing of fish or other animals (usu. of a specified kind). M19.
fish farm, oyster farm, trout farm, etc.
A farmhouse. M16.
A place where children are farmed (see FARM verb2 4). derog. M19.
baby-farm etc.
A prison hospital. arch. slang. L19.
A storage installation for oil etc. M20.
Comb.: farm-gate adjective relating to or denoting produce bought directly from the farm which produced it; farmhand a person who works on a farm; farmhold arch. a quantity of land held and cultivated as a farm; farmland: used or suitable for farming; farmstead, farmsteading a farm with the buildings on it; farm team Baseball a minor league team that provides players as needed to an affiliated major league team; farmwife (chiefly N. Amer.) a farmer's wife; farmworker a person who works on a farm.