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farmer-general

[fahr-mer-jen-er-uh l]
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noun, plural farm·ers-gen·er·al.
  1. (in France, under the old monarchy) a member of a company of capitalists that farmed certain taxes.
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Origin of farmer-general

1705–15; translation of French fermier-général
Related formsfar·mer-gen·er·al·ship, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for farmer-general

Historical Examples

  • He said: 'There was once a farmer-general—you know the rest!'

    Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 440

    Various

  • The farmer-general left none but collateral relations, who had offered the house in Rue de Bretonvilliers for sale.

  • What matters it, since he who was truly a father to her was the farmer-general, Lenormant de Tourneheim.

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

  • Her husband held the lucrative post of farmer-general to the king, and besides inherited large estates.

    Letters To Eugenia

    Paul Henri Thiry Holbach

British Dictionary definitions for farmer-general

farmer-general

noun plural farmers-general
  1. (in France before 1789) a member of a group allowed to farm certain taxes
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Derived Formsfarmer-generalship, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012