entry
farm
/fɑːrm/Land used for cultivating crops or raising animals
From Latin, ultimately disputedly Proto-Indo-European firmus (solid) + O.English, possibly Proto-Germanic feorm (provisions).
from Proto-Germanic *fermō, *firhuma- (“means of living, subsistence”)
from Latin firmus (“solid, secure”)
from Medieval Latin firma "fixed payment,"
from Proto-Indo-European *perkʷ- (“life, force, strength, tree”); or
from Proto-Germanic *ferhwō (“life force, body, being”)
from Proto-Germanic *fermō, *firhuma- (“means of living, subsistence”)
from Old English feorm (“rent, provision, supplies, feast”)
from Old French ferme "a rent, lease" (13c.)
+1 more sourcefrom Old French ferme "a rent, lease" (13c.)
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Proto-Germanic *fermō, *firhuma- (“means of living, subsistence”)
from Latin firmus (“solid, secure”)
from Medieval Latin firma "fixed payment,"
from Proto-Indo-European *perkʷ- (“life, force, strength, tree”); or
from Proto-Germanic *ferhwō (“life force, body, being”)
from Proto-Germanic *fermō, *firhuma- (“means of living, subsistence”)
from Old English feorm (“rent, provision, supplies, feast”)
from Old French ferme "a rent, lease" (13c.)
+1 more sourcefrom Old French ferme "a rent, lease" (13c.)
+1 more sourceBefore farm meant a field of wheat and a red barn, it was chiefly a financial word: a “farm” was a fixed rent or a contract to collect taxes. Medieval Latin called that payment firma, connected by one influential theory to firmus, “solid” or “secure”—a sum nailed down in advance. But there is a rival, wonderfully earthy possibility: Old English feorm meant provisions, supplies, or a feast, perhaps related to words for life-force and sustenance. By the early 14th century, ferme could mean leased land; by the 1520s, English speakers were using farm for cultivated land whether leased or owned. The modern verb then grew new branches of its own: in video games, to farm means repeatedly harvesting gold, items, or “honor”—a medieval rent collector reborn as a player circling the same dungeon until it pays.
The Story
Before farm meant a field of wheat and a red barn, it was chiefly a financial word: a “farm” was a fixed rent or a contract to collect taxes. Medieval Latin called that payment firma, connected by one influential theory to firmus, “solid” or “secure”—a sum nailed down in advance. But there is a rival, wonderfully earthy possibility: Old English feorm meant provisions, supplies, or a feast, perhaps related to words for life-force and sustenance. By the early 14th century, ferme could mean leased land; by the 1520s, English speakers were using farm for cultivated land whether leased or owned. The modern verb then grew new branches of its own: in video games, to farm means repeatedly harvesting gold, items, or “honor”—a medieval rent collector reborn as a player circling the same dungeon until it pays.
Modern Usage
In gaming, repeatedly collect items, money, or status from a location or activity
Kin & Kindred
From 'firmus'·solid, secure, fixed
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'feorm'·provisions, subsistence, rent, feast
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary