[f. FARMER2 + ESS.] a. A woman who farms land. b. A farmer’s wife.
1672. Evelyn, Mem. (1857), II. 80. A gallant widow brought up a farmeress.
1792. A. Young, Trav. France, 171. She was an excellent farmeress.
1870. Miss Broughton, Red as Rose, I. xiii. 265. The farmeresses and yeomen’s wives of the Melford district have departed, carrying with them, in their mind’s eye, for imitation against next Sunday, the cut of Miss Blessington’s skirt, and the profuse curls and bandeaux of Miss De Grey’s intricate coiffure.
