a person who farms; person who operates a farm or cultivates land.
Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. an unsophisticated or ignorant person, especially one from a rural area.
Archaic. a person who undertakes some service, as the care of children or poor people, at a fixed price.
Archaic. a person who undertakes the collection of taxes, duties, etc., paying a fixed sum for the privilege of retaining them.
Cards.
a variety of twenty-one played with a 45-card pack, the object being to obtain cards having a total worth of 16.
the dealer in this game.
Fannie (Merritt) 1857–1915, U.S. authority on cooking.
James (Leonard), 1920–1999, U.S. civil rights leader; founder of CORE.
a person who operates or manages a farm
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
a person who looks after a child for a fixed sum
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.”
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
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."
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One farmer on the north coast said he lost up to 80 percent of his cane-cutting workforce virtually overnight.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
A farmer and lobbyist, Sell disclosed four farms, worth a combined total of $1.25 million to $2.5 million.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
There was one exception, a blue-collar oyster farmer and Marine veteran named Graham Platner.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
"We've had really dry weather but also it's been really hot - and those things combined if you're a livestock farmer means excessive pressure on livestock," said Abi Reader, president of NFU Cymru.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
During all my months of ciphering, I had counted on selling my grain to the miller at grain prices, not to the odd farmer as cattle feed.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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
While meeting with Fifth Third employees in the Cincinnati area, Farmer has been repeatedly asked if he likes Cincinnati chili – and if so, how he likes it prepared.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 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
For Kevin Farmer, executive secretary of the Codrington Trust in Barbados, the argument that the Church absolved itself by eventually supporting abolition is deeply flawed.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
For the next five years, using the trailer park’s bathrooms and other public amenities, the Farmer family made the necessary adjustments that came with living in a bus.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
The system helps keep cattle comfortable during hot weather, but farmers say it cannot eliminate all of the effects of prolonged heat.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Dairy farmers are installing "cow showers" and giant cooling fans as hotter, drier summers become more common.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Griffith and other farmers at the market said that a large majority of their customers use EBT.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Walking through the Redondo Beach farmers market, I found myself staring at a small amber jar labeled “Bison Tallow Moisturizer.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Nor did the farmers foresee that in good years their bulging granaries would tempt thieves and enemies, compelling them to start building walls and doing guard duty.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
