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• farmer
  farmer

  noun

  a person who farms; person who operates a farm or cultivates land.
• Farmer
  Farmer

  noun

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

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

“Everyone here is affected by the war, from the smallest farmer to the largest merchant,” Mastour said.

From Los Angeles Times • May 31, 2026

"Mining has destroyed our region," said Salle Kumar, a 34-year-old farmer who lives in a village sandwiched between two massive mines in Rajasthan.

From Barron's • May 31, 2026

The genomes of people from later Neolithic times in Belgium carried at least 50% local hunter-gatherer ancestry, alongside the expected Anatolian farmer ancestry.

From Science Daily • May 30, 2026

“The government can evict you from what you thought was yours for so long,” said Bali Venkata Raju, a farmer.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026

"Yes, you’ll be happy to know that a farmer in the next village wants to adopt her. He and his wife haven’t been able to have children."

From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat

Related Words

• grower
• laborer
• peasant
• producer
• rancher