serf

Meaning

1. A partially free peasant of a low hereditary class, attached like a slave 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. A worker unit.

Synonyms

slave

villein

bondman

helot

bondsman

vassal

thrall

servant

servile

lackey

subject

farmer

🧑‍🌾

dependent

commoner

bondservant

bond servant

bond-servant

bondslave

poor person

land-slave

bond slave

indentured servant

Translations

horige

serf

lijfeigene

siervo

δουλοπάροικος

servo

Leibeigener

serve

Leibeigene

servo

servo della gleba

servus

serf

ambactus

Pronounced as (IPA)

/sɜːf/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: serf

In summary

From Middle English serf, from Old French serf, from Latin servus (“slave, serf, servant”).