Farmer-general
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A member of a privileged association in France, before the French Revolution, who collected duties on behalf of the king, along with bonus fees for themselves. historical
"In the same tone a farmer general in France, who had probably beggared a province, and whose rapacity had hastened the late revolution, exclaimed, "What need of reformation?" To such men I can make no reply […]"
Example
More examples"In the same tone a farmer general in France, who had probably beggared a province, and whose rapacity had hastened the late revolution, exclaimed, "What need of reformation?" To such men I can make no reply […]"
Etymology
Calque of French fermier général
More for "farmer-general"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.