Skip to content

serf

noun

  1. agricultural labourer bound by the feudal system who was tied to working on a lord's estate
L18420 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /sɜːf/ / /sɝf/ / /sɛɹf/

noun

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

  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.

    See how the serfs work the ground / And they give it all they’ve got

  2. A similar agricultural labourer in 18th and 19th century Europe.
  3. A worker unit.