Peasant

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpÉ›zÉ™nt/

Origin

From Late Middle English paissaunt, from Anglo-Norman paisant (""), from Middle French païsant ("païsant"), from Old French païsan ("countryman, peasant"), from païs ("country"), from Late Latin pāgēnsis ("inhabitant of a district"), from Latin pāgus ("district") + Old French -enc ("member of"), from Frankish -inc, -ing "-ing". More at -ing.

Full definition of peasant

Noun

1. A member of the lowly social class which toils on the land, constituted by small farmers and tenants, sharecroppers, farmhands and other laborers on the land where they form the main labor force in agriculture and horticulture.
2. A country person.
3. An uncouth, crude or ill-bred person.
4. (strategy games) a worker unit

Synonyms

• (lowly social class) peon, serf
• churl
• (country person) rustic, villager
• (crude person) boor

Derived terms

• peasantry

Anagrams

• anapest