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farm (färm)
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n.
1. A tract of land cultivated for the purpose of agricultural production.
2.
a. A tract of land devoted to the raising and breeding of domestic animals.
b. An area of water devoted to the raising, breeding, or production of a specific aquatic animal: a trout farm; an oyster farm.
3.
a. A facility for the generation of energy by converting it from a particular source, usually by means of multiple electric generators: a wind farm.
b. A place where a group of similar devices or storage containers are set up: a tank farm; a server farm.
4. Baseball A minor-league club affiliated with a major-league club for the training of recruits and the maintenance of temporarily unneeded players.
5. Obsolete
a. The system of leasing out the rights of collecting and retaining taxes in a certain district.
b. A district so leased.
v. farmed, farm·ing, farms
v.tr.
1. To cultivate or produce a crop on (land).
2. To cultivate, breed, or raise (plants or animals).
3. To pay a fixed sum in order to have the right to collect and retain profits from (a business, for example).
4. To turn over (a business, for example) to another in return for the payment of a fixed sum.
v.intr.
To engage in farming.
Phrasal Verb:
farm out
1. To send (work, for example) from a central point to be done elsewhere.
2. Baseball To assign (a player) to a minor-league team.

[Middle English, lease, leased property, from Old French ferme, from Medieval Latin firma, fixed payment, from Latin firmāre, to establish, from firmus, firm; see dher- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.