farmhouse
Word family
Etymology
Old FrenchLatinOld EnglishEnglish
Formed by combining the nouns 'farm' and 'house'. The word 'farm' comes from Old French 'ferme' (a lease or rented land), which itself comes from Latin 'firmus' (firm, secure) via the medieval sense of a fixed payment for land. 'House' comes from Old English 'hūs' (a dwelling). The compound 'farmhouse' has been used since the 1600s to mean the main dwelling on a farm.