peasant

noun

peas·​ant ˈpe-zᵊnt 

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 centuries.

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.

Examples of peasant in a Sentence

They treated us like a bunch of peasants.

Recent Examples on the Web

In those intervening 35 years, China had moved 800 million rural peasants — living in extreme poverty on US$2 a day — into city apartments and integrated them into the global economy. —Peter Leyden, Big Think, 7 Oct. 2025

More than two million peasant families were given land. —Nik Kowsar, Time, 2 Oct. 2025

Bettany played English poet and writer Geoffrey Chaucer in the medieval action-comedy, which starred Ledger as William Thatcher, a peasant squire, fueled by his desire for food and glory, who forges a new identity for himself as a knight when his master dies. —Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Sep. 2025

In sixteenth-century Europe, just as Martin Luther’s ideas were shaking Catholic institutions, a far more radical movement for freedom rose up among peasants. —The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 30 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for peasant

• pheasant
• pleasant
• present
• omnipresent
• unpleasant

Kids Definition

peasant

noun

peas·​ant ˈpez-ᵊnt 

1

: a European small farmer or farm laborer

2

: a member of a similar agricultural class elsewhere