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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

• farmers
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• underfarmer
  noun
• farmerlike
  adjective
• profarmer
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• farmers
  plural

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

See Examples For:

farmer Farmer farmers

Until this year, Phil Collins, a Wiltshire vegetable farmer, had never had an overdraft.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

When Graham Platner ran for Senate, he came with an irresistible, dream candidate profile: a plainspoken veteran and man of the people who was ready to change careers from oyster farmer to politician.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

Martin Lines, head of the Nature Friendly Farming Network and a farmer from Cambridgeshire, said this year's harvest "has been a real kick in the teeth".

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

A two-hour drive west of Havana, in rural Consolacion del Sur, the picture is much the same for farmer Fidel Maqueira, who spends his nights guarding his oxen against theft.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

“Roz, you’re a farmer now, and sometimes farmers have to kill animals!”

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

Farmer Conor McVeigh believes the skin test for bTB "is completely out of date".

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

“The circumstances are different between the two states,” said David Farmer, a Maine-based Democratic strategist, “but it’s certainly shaping up to be a strange midterm election with enormous stakes for the country.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

Party wings are another reliable crowd-pleaser: Farmer Focus wings come pre-split, grill quickly and only need a coating of Tabañero BBQ sauce near the end so it can caramelize and get sticky.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

FAO has declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer, with the agency highlighting how "unrecognised" their vital role is in supporting food security.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

Like Farmer, the captain and his troops were giving their best effort.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Similar projects have faced opposition in the past and Jessie admits other farmers in the area were sceptical.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

So as the heatwaves and drought persist, who is thriving, who is struggling, and will farmers have to change what they grow in a warming climate?

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

For years, I’ve found myself gravitating towards stories about neighborhood restaurants, family businesses, local farmers, and food traditions — not because they’re quaint or nostalgic, but because they’re windows into something larger.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

With the fast-growing cities of the Southwest largely able to tap alternative sources such as groundwater, the biggest impact would likely be felt by farmers, who use most of the water, the study said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Early human beings emerged from caves to become herdsmen and farmers, and, with a now secure food supply, they began crafting the first monumental “sculpture.”

From "The Annotated Mona Lisa" by Carol Strickland and John Boswell

Related Words

• grower
• laborer
• peasant
• producer
• rancher