farm

v. i. To engage in the business of tilling the soil; to labor as a farmer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. ferme rent, lease, F. ferme, LL. firma, fr. L. firmus firm, fast, firmare to make firm or fast. See Firm, a. & n. ] 1. The rent of land, -- originally paid by reservation of part of its products. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The term or tenure of a lease of land for cultivation; a leasehold. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

It is great willfulness in landlords to make any longer farms to their tenants. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The land held under lease and by payment of rent for the purpose of cultivation. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Any tract of land devoted to agricultural purposes, under the management of a tenant or the owner. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In English the ideas of a lease, a term, and a rent, continue to be in a great degree inseparable, even from the popular meaning of a farm, as they are entirely so from the legal sense. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A district of country leased (or farmed) out for the collection of the revenues of government. [ 1913 Webster ]

The province was devided into twelve farms. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (O. Eng. Law) A lease of the imposts on particular goods; as, the sugar farm, the silk farm. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whereas G. H. held the farm of sugars upon a rent of 10, 000 marks per annum. State Trials (1196). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being farmed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. fermier. ] One who farms; as: (a) One who hires and cultivates a farm; a cultivator of leased ground; a tenant. Smart. (b) One who is devoted to the tillage of the soil; one who cultivates a farm; an agriculturist; a husbandman. (c) One who takes taxes, customs, excise, or other duties, to collect, either paying a fixed annuual rent for the privilege; as, a farmer of the revenues. (d) (Mining) The lord of the field, or one who farms the lot and cope of the crown. [ 1913 Webster ]

Farmer-general [ F. fermier-general ], one to whom the right of levying certain taxes, in a particular district, was farmed out, under the former French monarchy, for a given sum paid down. --
Farmers' satin, a light material of cotton and worsted, used for coat linings. McElrath. --
The king's farmer (O. Eng. Law), one to whom the collection of a royal revenue was farmed out. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A woman who farms. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a woman working on a farm; a farmeress. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. Skill in farming. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The buildings and yards necessary for the business of a farm; a homestead. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]