peasant

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noun peas·ant \ ˈpe-zᵊnt \

Definition of peasant

1 :a member of a European class of persons tilling the soil as small landowners or as laborers

This land was farmed by peasants for centuriess.

; also :a member of a similar class elsewhere

2 :a usually uneducated person of low social status

They treated us like a bunch of peasants.

See peasant defined for English-language learners

See peasant defined for kids

Examples of peasant in a Sentence

They treated us like a bunch of peasants.

Recent Examples of peasant from the Web

As a rural peasant whose first child was a girl, he had been given permission to have a second child, and the family was to celebrate his second daughter’s 100th day — China’s equivalent of a christening party — that day.

— simon denyer, Washington Post, "The painful search for China’s missing children slowly gains momentum," 16 Aug. 2017
For hundreds of years throughout the Middle Ages, peasants ploughed and leveled the field.

— michael price, Science | AAAS, "Thousand-year-old Viking fortress reveals a technologically advanced society," 16 Aug. 2017
Trump’s British alter ego on The Apprentice, Sir Alan Sugar, is obviously superstitious and has taken to denouncing the president at intervals like a peasant warding off a devil by naming him.

— john o'sullivan, National Review, "The Trump Era as Unintended Political Satire — Recalling Peter Simple," 4 Aug. 2017
The Virgin of Guadalupe is believed to be an appearance of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus in Christian tradition, to the native peasant Juan Diego in 1531 near present-day Mexico City.

— greg garrison, AL.com, "Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe means less stress for immigrants, Bama study says," 21 July 2017
The source of Birch’s screenplay, a short story by 19th-century Russian writer Nikolai Leskov, has the robust wisdom of a peasant myth.

— charles taylor, MSNBC Newsweek, "Cannes' Favorite 'Lady Macbeth' Isn't Daring, but It Might Be Racist," 17 July 2017
All along the peninsula, peasants who have been eking out a meager existence by subsistence farming and fishing say they’ve been left to fend for themselves amid a painfully slow recovery, and in the midst of another hurricane season.

— jacqueline charles, miamiherald, "After Hurricane Matthew, many victims in Haiti feel abandoned," 14 July 2017
Cream was a part of the diet of the peasants, and the combination was seen as unifying the rich and the poor, the equivalent of the Cawley Family eating with Miss Patmore, Daisy and the rest of the gang in the Downton basement.

— jon wertheim, SI.com, "Wimbledon is truly a treasure, but its classic strawberries and cream snack is not," 13 July 2017
The alternative, of course, is to wield a (preferably extendable) snow brush like a peasant who has no business owning a Range Rover.

— alexander stoklosa, Car and Driver, "2016 Range Rover Td6 Diesel," 6 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'peasant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of peasant

Middle English paissaunt, from Anglo-French paisant, pesaunt, from pais, paiis country, from Late Latin pagensis inhabitant of a district, from Latin pagus district; akin to Latin pangere to fix — more at pact

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

Other Agriculture/Gardening Terms

fallow, graft, heirloom, loam, potash, soilage, swath, tilth, windfall

PEASANT Defined for English Language Learners

peasant

play

noun

Definition of peasant for English Language Learners

: a poor farmer or farm worker who has low social status
: a person who is not educated and has low social status

PEASANT Defined for Kids

peasant

play

noun peas·ant \ ˈpe-zᵊnt \

Definition of peasant for Students

:a farmer or farm worker of low social class

Learn More about peasant

See words that rhyme with peasant Spanish Central: Translation of peasant Nglish: Translation of peasant for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of peasant for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about peasant

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peasant

Definition of peasant

Examples of peasant in a Sentence

Recent Examples of peasant from the Web

Origin and Etymology of peasant

Other Agriculture/Gardening Terms

PEASANT Defined for English Language Learners

peasant

Definition of peasant for English Language Learners

PEASANT Defined for Kids

peasant

Definition of peasant for Students

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