# ferm
## English
### Alternative forms

* ferme

### Etymology

See farm.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /fɜː(ɹ)m/
* Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)m
* Homophone: firm

### Noun

ferm (countable and uncountable, plural ferms)
* (obsolete) rent for a farm
    He let his land to ferm.
* (obsolete) a farm
* (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 The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.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: (Central) [ˈfɛrm]
* IPA: (Balearic) [ˈfərm]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈfeɾm]

### Adjective

ferm (feminine ferma, masculine plural ferms, feminine plural fermes)
* firm (steadfast, secure)
    Synonym: fix
* firm (fixed in opinion)
    Synonym: fix
* firm (solid, rigid)

#### Derived terms

* fermament
* fermesa

### Noun

ferm m (plural ferms)
* pavement (US), road surface (UK) (paved exterior surface)

### Further reading

* “ferm” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “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: /fɛrm/

### Adjective

ferm (feminine singular ferma, plural fermi or friem, comparative ifrem)
* strong, well-built
    Synonym: sħiħ
* 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
* (Late Middle English) Alternative form of ferme (“lease”)

### Etymology 2
#### Adjective

ferm
* 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)
* firm

#### 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
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈfɛrm/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛrm
* Syllabification: ferm

### Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from New Latin fermium.

#### Noun

ferm m inan
* fermium (transuranic chemical element (symbol Fm) with an atomic number of 100)

##### Declension
### Etymology 2

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

#### Noun

ferm m inan
* (theater) theatrical decoration depicting landscapes or buildings

##### Declension
### Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Noun

ferm f
* 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 and neuter plural ferme)
* firm

#### Declension
## 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: [fɛrm], [ferm]

### Noun

ferm (plural ferms)
* 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.

## Swedish
### Etymology

Borrowed from French ferme (“firm”). First attested in 1665
Cognate with English firm (adjective).

### Adjective

ferm
* (archaic) nimble, quick
    Synonyms: flink, hurtig, ivrig, kvick, rask, snabb
** 1846, Wendela Hebbe et al., “En kärlekshistorie”, in På Divans-Bordet, page 99:[…] då hörde jag Skratten bakom mig – men jag var den tiden ferm och vig som en olycka, fattade derföre i fönstergallret och klängde mig upp i nischen, samt hoppade ut i den mjuka snön. […] then I heard the laughter behind me – but at that time I was nimble and agile as a mishap, therefore I grasped the window grating, clambered up into the niche, and jumped out into the soft snow.

### References

* ↑ ferm in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* ferm in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* ferm in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)