■ noun an area of land and its buildings, used for growing crops and rearing animals.
↘a ~house.
↘an establishment for breeding, growing, or producing something: a fish ~ | a wind ~.
■ verb
1》 make one's living as a ~er.
↘use (land) for growing crops and rearing animals.
↘breed or grow (a type of livestock or crop) commercially.
2》 ( ~ someone/thing out ) send out or subcontract work to others.
↘arrange for a child to be looked after by someone.
3》 historical allow someone to collect and keep the revenues from (a tax) on payment of a fee.
Derivatives
~able adjective
~ing noun
Origin
ME (orig. denoting a fixed annual amount payable as rent or tax): from OFr. ferme , from med. L. firma 'fixed payment', from L. firmare 'fix, settle'; cf. firm 2 .