Daily Ancestorgaardmand
Gaardmand (modern gårdmann) means a farmer who held a farm of his own, as opposed to a husmand, a cotter living on a farm's land.
NAOB marks the word as old-fashioned and defines it as a man who owns a farm, a bonde, especially in contrast to a husmand. Many farmers were once tenants (leilendinger), but from the 1700s on more and more became owners (selveiere).
SNL describes bonde, husmand and inderst as the main levels of rural society, and gaardmand sits at the top of that ladder in church books and censuses. Today's word is gårdbruker, a person who runs a farm.
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How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "gaardmand." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/norwegian/gaardmand. Last checked 2026-10-28.