a worker of the land: someone who tills the soil and raises its crops, whether an ordinary farmer, a vinedresser, or a tenant who works land he does not own
At root the word simply names a worker of the soil, someone whose living comes from the ground. Greek builds it from the words for "land" and "work," so it is literally a land worker. English Bibles reach for different words depending on what he grows and how he holds the land, which is why one Greek word turns up as "farmer," "vinedresser," "gardener," and "tenants."
The word itself says nothing about who owns the land. Paul pictures a farmer who has earned the first share of his own crop; John's Gospel calls God the vine grower who owns the vineyard and prunes it with care; and in the best-known use, the long parable Jesus tells against Israel's leaders, the workers are tenants who lease someone else's vineyard and turn violent rather than hand over the fruit. Ownership, tenancy, and hired labor all come from the surrounding story, not from the word. Greek does have a narrower term aimed only at the vines, ἀμπελουργός, the vine worker, but this broader word keeps its wider reach.
What every use shares is patient, hands-on work tied to a harvest. The farmer waits through the rains, the vine grower prunes for better fruit, and even the wicked tenants are entrusted with the vineyard because growing things takes sustained care. The word carries both the dignity and the long patience of that life.