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Definition of peasants - 2 dictionary results

peas⋅ant

  [pez-uhnt]
Use peasants in a Sentence
–noun
1. a member of a class of persons, as in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, who are small farmers or farm laborers of low social rank.
2. a coarse, unsophisticated, boorish, uneducated person of little financial means.
–adjective
3. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of peasants or their traditions, way of life, crafts, etc.
4. of or designating a style of clothing modeled on the folk costumes of Western cultures, esp. women's full-sleeved, round-necked blouses and long, full skirts.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME paissaunt < AF paisant, OF païsant, earlier païsenc, equiv. to païs country (< LL pāgēnsis, equiv. to L pāg(us) country district + -ēnsis -ensis ) + -enc < Gmc (see -ing 3 )

Related forms:
peas⋅ant⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To peasants
peas·ant   (pěz'ənt)   
n.  
  1. A member of the class constituted by small farmers and tenants, sharecroppers, and laborers on the land where they form the main labor force in agriculture.
  2. A country person; a rustic.
  3. An uncouth, crude, or ill-bred person; a boor.

[Middle English paissaunt, from Old French paisant, from pais, country, from Late Latin pāgēnsis, inhabitant of a district, from Latin pāgus, district; see pag- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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