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.

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farmer-general British  

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

• farmer-generalship noun

Etymology

Origin of farmer-general

1705–15; translation of French fermier-général

Example Sentences

She declared that the farmer-general had carried to his house at Passy a number of bags filled with gold and silver and that those bags had disappeared a few days before the arrest.

From The Confessions of Arsène Lupin by Leblanc, Maurice

An old farmer-general, an intellectual and unprejudiced man, gravely attempts to justify the purchase of Saint-Cloud by calling it "a ring for the queen's finger."

From The Ancient Regime by Durand, John

We have proved to your Lordships that in his character of farmer-general he availed himself of the influence derived from commanding a battalion of soldiers.

From The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 11 (of 12) by Burke, Edmund

And what must have happened was this: the farmer-general began by turning his fortune into solid gold and silver money.

From The Confessions of Arsène Lupin by Leblanc, Maurice

Chenonceaux in the eighteenth century fell to M. Claude Dupin, farmer-general, who surrounded himself with the foremost artists and social leaders of his time.

From The Car That Went Abroad Motoring Through the Golden Age by Paine, Albert Bigelow