Serf

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /sɜːf/
• US IPA: /sɝf/
• Homophones: surf in accents with the w, English-language vowel changes before historic r#Fern-fir-fur_merger, fern-fir-fur merger

Origin

From Old French serf, from Latin servus ("slave, serf, servant"), perhaps of Etruscan origin

Full definition of serf

Noun

1. A partially free peasant of a low hereditary class, slavishly attached to the land owned by a feudal lord and required to perform labour, enjoying minimal legal or customary rights.
2. A similar agricultural labourer in 18th and 19th century Europe.
3. (strategy games) A worker unit.

Synonyms

• (strategy games) peasant, peon, villager

Derived terms

• serfage
• serfdom
• serfhood
• serfish
• serfism

Related terms

• service
• servile
• servitor
• servitude
• servo

Anagrams

• ESRF, f***ers, refs