Nearby Words
noun
1.
a person in a condition of servitude, required to render services to a lord, commonly attached to the lord's land and transferred with it from one owner to another.
2.
a slave.
Origin:
1475–85; < Middle French < Latin servus slave
1475–85; < Middle French < Latin servus slave
Related forms
serf·dom, serf·hood, serf·age, noun
Synonyms
1. vassal, villein, peasant.
1. vassal, villein, peasant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Serfs
is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
Example Sentences
- Instead of running his country estate himself, he turns it over to his serfs to manage.
- Adjuncts are the serfs of higher ed working ion the fields so the lords and ladies can do their research.
- Politics will be much different when all the serfs realize they are the serfs.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
serf
late 15c., "slave," from M.Fr. serf, from L. servum (nom. servus) "slave" (see serve). Fallen from use in original sense by 18c. Meaning "lowest class of cultivators of the soil in continental European countries" is from 1610s. Use by modern writers with reference to medieval
EXPANDEuropeans first recorded 1761 (contemporary Anglo-L. records used nativus, villanus or servus). Serfdom first attested 1850.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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