ferm

English

Etymology

See farm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɜː(ɹ)m/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)m
• Homophone: firm

Noun

ferm (countable and uncountable, plural ferms)

1. (obsolete) rent for a farm

   He let his land to ferm.

2. (obsolete) a farm
3. (obsolete) an abode or place of residence
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     Out of her fleshly ferme fled to the place of paine..

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “ferm”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• REMF, frem

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin firmus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈfɛrm]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈfərm]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈfeɾm]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

ferm (feminine ferma, masculine plural ferms, feminine plural fermes)

1. firm (steadfast, secure)

   Synonym: fix

2. firm (fixed in opinion)

   Synonym: fix

3. firm (solid, rigid)

Derived terms

• fermament
• fermesa

Noun

ferm m (plural ferms)

1. pavement (US), road surface (UK) (paved exterior surface)

Further reading

• “ferm”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “ferm”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “ferm” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “ferm” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Maltese

Etymology

Borrowed from Sicilian fermu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛrm/
• Rhymes: -ɛrm

Adjective

ferm (feminine singular ferma, plural fermi or friem, comparative ifrem)

1. strong, well-built

   Synonym: sħiħ

2. steady, constant
   • 2022, Alfred Massa, Il-Ħarba, Horizons, →ISBN, page 5:

     Dan minħabba l-interess li dejjem wera għat-tagħlim ferm qabel il-Griegi u r-Rumani.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Related terms

• fermezza
• fferma

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

ferm

1. (Late Middle English) alternative form of ferme (“lease”)

Etymology 2

Adjective

ferm

1. alternative form of ferme (“firm”)

Old French

Alternative forms

• furm (Tristan, Thomas d'Angleterre)

Etymology

From Latin firmus.

Adjective

ferm m (oblique and nominative feminine singular ferme)

1. firm

Declension

	Case	masculine	feminine	neuter
singular	subject	ferms	ferme	ferm
	oblique	ferm			ferme	ferm
plural	subject	ferm	fermes		ferm
	oblique	ferms			fermes	ferm

Related terms

• enferm
• fermeté, ferté

Descendants

• Middle French: ferme
  • French: ferme
• → Middle English: ferme, ferm
  • English: firm (remodelled after Latin)
    • → Cantonese: firm
  • Scots: firm (remodelled after Latin)

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

ferm

Wikipedia ^pl

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛrm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛrm
• Syllabification: ferm

Etymology 1

Chemical element
Fm
Previous: einstein (Es)
Next: mendelew (Md)

Learned borrowing from New Latin fermium.

Noun

ferm m inan

1. fermium (transuranic chemical element (symbol Fm) with an atomic number of 100)

Declension

Declension of ferm

	singular
nominative	ferm
genitive	fermu
dative	fermowi
accusative	ferm
instrumental	fermem
locative	fermie
vocative	fermie

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

ferm m inan

1. (theater) theatrical decoration depicting landscapes or buildings

Declension

Declension of ferm

	singular	plural
nominative	ferm	fermy
genitive	fermu	fermów
dative	fermowi	fermom
accusative	ferm	fermy
instrumental	fermem	fermami
locative	fermie	fermach
vocative	fermie	fermy

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

ferm f

1. genitive plural of ferma

Further reading

• ferm in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• ferm in PWN's encyclopedia

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French ferme.

Adjective

ferm m or n (feminine singular fermă, masculine plural fermi, feminine/neuter plural ferme)

1. firm

Declension

Declension of ferm

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	ferm		fermă		fermi	ferme
	definite	fermul		ferma		fermii	fermele
genitive- dative	indefinite	ferm		ferme		fermi	ferme
	definite	fermului		fermei		fermilor	fermelor

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English ferme, from Anglo-Norman and Old French ferme, from Medieval Latin firma, from Old English fearm (“sustenance, food, supplies”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fɛrm], [ferm]

Noun

ferm (plural ferms)

1. a farm

Derived terms

• ferm-servand (“farm-hand”)
• fermer (“farmer”)
• fermhoose (“farmhouse”)
• fermin (“farming”)
• fermstockin (“livestock”)
• fermtoun (“the homested of a farm”)

References

• “ferm”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.