Synonyms

tenant farmer

American

noun

a person who farms the land of another and pays rent with cash or with a portion of the produce.

tenant farmer British

noun

a person who farms land rented from another, the rent usually taking the form of part of the crops grown or livestock reared

"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

Etymology

Origin of tenant farmer

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Watching the harvest, tenant farmer Mohamed Ragab, 40, doubts it will bring profit.

From Barron's • May 15, 2026

"He was a tenant farmer and farmed lands both here and in Charlton Mackrell. There would have been more important people than him in Barton."

From BBC • Jan. 19, 2025

The son of a tenant farmer, Walker and his family worried that an injury in his senior year could jeopardize his professional career and the millions of dollars awaiting him there.

From Slate • Nov. 6, 2022

Mahmad Ewaz, 28, a former tenant farmer and father of four who fled fighting in Helmand province two years ago, listened to his 1-year-old daughter coughing and contemplated a single log resting in the corner.

From Washington Post • Jan. 8, 2022

She did not want to be a tenant farmer one day.

From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023