Ferme
/fɛrm/noun
A fixed annual rent or lease payment, especially in historical legal and financial use.
Did you know?In medieval English law, a ferme was a sum paid in return for the right to hold land or collect its revenues, showing how property could be reduced to a contractual obligation.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*firmō
“something fixed or solid”
Old French
OF
ferme
“fixed, firm; a fixed payment or rent”
Middle English
ME
ferme
“a fixed annual rent, lease, or revenue farm”
Modern English
English
farm
“land or a business used for growing crops or raising animals”