What does "farm" mean?
A place where agricultural and similar activities take place, especially the growing of crops or the raising of livestock.
Farm
/fɑːm/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A place where agricultural and similar activities take place, especially the growing of crops or the raising of livestock.
- Grammar: farm is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: acreage, adobe house, agrarian, agrestic.
- Useful contrasts: fallow land use, abandon, abattoir.
- Usage evidence: Last summer, I worked part time on the farm.
How to use "farm"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "farm" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "farm" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "farm" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "farm" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "farm" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "acreage" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "farm", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A place where agricultural and similar activities take place, especially the growing of crops or the raising of livestock. countable
- 2 workplace consisting of farm buildings and cultivated land as a unit wordnet
- 3 A tract of land held on lease for the purpose of cultivation. countable
- 4 A location used for an industrial purpose, having many similar structures. countable, in-compounds, often
"antenna farm; fuel farm; solar farm; wind farm"
- 5 A group of coordinated servers. countable
"a render farm"
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 Food; provisions; a meal. obsolete
- 7 A banquet; feast. obsolete
- 8 A fixed yearly amount (food, provisions, money, etc.) payable as rent or tax. obsolete
"If a man be bounden unto 1.s. in 100.l.£ to grant unto him the rent and farme of such a Mill."
- 9 A fixed yearly sum accepted from a person as a composition for taxes or other moneys which he is empowered to collect; also, a fixed charge imposed on a town, county, etc., in respect of a tax or taxes to be collected within its limits. historical
"He [the Sheriff] paid into the Exchequer the fixed yearly sum which formed the farm of the shire."
- 10 The letting-out of public revenue to a ‘farmer’; the privilege of farming a tax or taxes. historical
"The first farm of postal income was made in 1672."
- 11 The body of farmers of public revenues.
"They despair of a suppression of the Farm."
- 12 The condition of being let at a fixed rent; lease; a lease.
"It is a great willfullnes in any such Land-lord to refuse to make any longer farmes unto their Tennants."
- 13 A baby farm. historical
"Oliver’s sobs checked his utterance for some minutes; when he was on the point of beginning to relate how he had been brought up at the farm, and carried to the workhouse by Mr. Bumble, a peculiarly impatient little double-knock was heard at the street-door: and the servant, running upstairs, announced Mr. Grimwig."
Verb
- 1 To work on a farm, especially in the growing and harvesting of crops. intransitive
- 2 To cleanse; clean out; put in order; empty; empty out UK, dialectal
"Farm out the stable and pigsty."
- 3 cultivate by growing, often involving improvements by means of agricultural techniques wordnet
- 4 To devote (land) to farming. transitive
- 5 collect fees or profits wordnet
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 To grow (a particular crop). transitive
- 7 be a farmer; work as a farmer wordnet
- 8 To give up to another, as an estate, a business, the revenue, etc., on condition of receiving in return a percentage of what it yields; to farm out.
"to farm the taxes"
- 9 To lease or let for an equivalent, e.g. land for a rent; to yield the use of to proceeds. obsolete, transitive
"We are enforced to farm our royal realm."
- 10 To take at a certain rent or rate. obsolete, transitive
"In Paris it is stated that nearly half the birth-rate of the city finds its way to nurses who farm babies in the suburbs."
- 11 To engage in grinding (repetitive activity) in a particular area or against specific enemies for a particular drop or item. Internet
"When you hit a black pudding with an iron weapon that does at least one point of damage there is a good chance it will divide into two black puddings of the same size (but half the hit points IIRC). […] When eaten black puddings confer several intrinsics so AC [armor class] is not the only potential benefit. […] Since black puddings are formidible^([sic]) monsters for an inexperienced character, farming is also a good way to die."
- 12 To cultivate and/or disseminate through artificial algorithm-incentivized means, especially in the a way that misinforms or causes harm. Internet
"This type of SEO farming can be massively lucrative. Digital marketers have built an entire industry on top of credit card affiliate links, from which they then earn a generous profit."
- 13 To cultivate and/or disseminate through artificial algorithm-incentivized means, especially in the a way that misinforms or causes harm.; To act performatively or deliberately to elicit a desired response. Internet, derogatory
Proper Noun
- 1 Broadwater Farm, an area of Tottenham, North London, England. UK, slang
"And before you mention the plans to fix up the Farm, let me tell you, all that regeneration talk is just about bulldozing the place and shipping us all out to God knows where."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Last summer, I worked part time on the farm."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "farm"?
Common synonyms include: acreage, adobe house, agrarian, agrestic, agricultural, agricultural plot.
How do you use "farm" in a sentence?
Last summer, I worked part time on the farm.
How do you pronounce "farm"?
Pronounced /fɑːm/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Inherited from Middle English ferme, farme (“rent, revenue, produce, factor, stewardship, meal, feast”), influenced by Anglo-Norman ferme (“rent, lease, farm”), from Medieval Latin ferma, firma. There is debate as to whether Medieval Latin acquired this term from Old English feorm (“rent, provision, supplies, feast”), from Proto-Germanic *fermō, *firhuma- (“means of living, subsistence”), from Proto-Germanic *ferhwō (“life force, body, being”), from Proto-Indo-European *perkʷ- (“life, force, strength, tree”); or from Latin firmus (“solid, secure”), from Proto-Italic *fermos, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer-mo-s (“holding”), from the root *dʰer- (“to hold”). If the former etymology is correct, the term is related to Old English feorh (“life, spirit”), Icelandic fjör (“life, vitality, vigour, animation”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍈𐌿𐍃 (fairƕus, “the world”). Compare also Old English feormehām (“farm”), feormere (“purveyor, supplier, grocer”). Cognate with Scots ferm (“rent, farm”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English fermen, from Anglo-Norman fermer (“to let out for a fixed payment, lease, rent”) ultimately from the same Old English source as Etymology 1. Compare Old English feormian (“to feed, supply with food, sustain”).
Etymology 3
From Middle English fermen, from Old English feormian (“to clean, cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *furbēn (“to clean, polish, buff”). Doublet of furbish.