farmer-general

American  

[fahr-mer-jen-er-uhl] / ˈfɑr mərˈdʒɛn ər əl /

noun

plural

farmers-general

1. (in France, under the old monarchy) a member of a company of capitalists that farmed certain taxes.

---

farmer-general British  

noun

1. (in France before 1789) a member of a group allowed to farm certain taxes

---

Other Word Forms

• farmer-generalship noun

Etymology

Origin of farmer-general

1705–15; translation of French fermier-général

Example Sentences

At the age of twenty-three, at the queen’s request, he was appointed farmer-general, a post of great responsibility and dignity worth a 100,000 crowns a year.

From Project Gutenberg

It was characteristic of the man that, as soon as he thought his fortune sufficient, he gave up his post of farmer-general, and retired to an estate in the country, where he employed his large means in the relief of the poor, the encouragement of agriculture and the development of industries.

From Project Gutenberg

His father, a farmer-general of taxes, was a man of literary tastes, and young H�nault obtained a good education at the Jesuit college.

From Project Gutenberg

He was a farmer-general of the taxes, and amassed an immense fortune by grinding the poor.

From Project Gutenberg

Then we sat down to supper—ten of us: Bodard and his wife, the Controller-General, Beaumarchais, the two strangers, two pretty women whose names may not be mentioned, and a farmer-general named, I think, Lavoisier.

From Project Gutenberg