peasant

C1 Topic:Plants & Agriculture

US /ˈpɛzənt/ See IPA manual

Freq #7650

Meanings

1

noun
A poor farmer or farm worker, especially in the past or in poorer countries.

The peasants worked the land from dawn until dusk.
2

noun
A rude or badly behaved person.

Stop eating with your fingers, you peasant!

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a poor farmer or farm... serf peon

2 noun · a rude or badly behaved... boor churl

Word family

Forms peasants

Derived forms antipeasantnonpeasantpeasantesspeasanthoodpeasantishpeasantismpeasantistpeasantizepeasantlesspeasantlikepeasantlypeasantness

Etymology

From Late Middle English paissaunt, from Anglo-Norman paisant, from Old French païsant, païsan (“countryman, peasant”), from païs (“country”), from Latin pāgus (“countryside”) + Old French -enc (“member of”), from Frankish -inc, -ing "-ing"; which was an alteration of earlier Late Latin pāgēnsis (“inhabitant of a district”). Doublet of paisano. Via Latin pāgus cognate with pagan (compare typologically, see there for more).

*peh₂ǵ- Proto-Indo-European paissaunt Middle English paisant xno païsant Old French pāgus Latin -enc Old French pāgēnsis la-lat

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Plants & Agriculture Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# peasant

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɛzənt/
**Frequency rank:** 7650

## Meanings
1. A poor farmer or farm worker, especially in the past or in poorer countries.
2. A rude or badly behaved person.

## Examples
- The peasants worked the land from dawn until dusk.
- Stop eating with your fingers, you peasant!

## Derived Forms
- antipeasant
- nonpeasant
- peasantess
- peasanthood
- peasantish
- peasantism
- peasantist
- peasantize
- peasantless
- peasantlike
- peasantly
- peasantness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *peh₂ǵ-
- Root: paissaunt
- Root: paisant
- Root: païsant
- Root: pāgus
- Root: -enc
- Root: pāgēnsis

## Etymology
From Late Middle English paissaunt, from Anglo-Norman paisant, from Old French païsant, païsan (“countryman, peasant”), from païs (“country”), from Latin pāgus (“countryside”) + Old French -enc (“member of”), from Frankish -inc, -ing "-ing"; which was an alteration of earlier Late Latin pāgēnsis (“inhabitant of a district”). Doublet of paisano. Via Latin pāgus cognate with pagan (compare typologically, see there for more).

## AI Etymology
Peasant is from Late Middle English paissaunt, from Anglo-Norman paisant, from Old French païsant, païsan (“countryman, peasant”), from païs (“country”), from Latin pāgus (“countryside”) + Old French -enc (“member of”), from Frankish -inc, -ing "-ing"; which was an alteration of earlier Late Latin pāgēnsis (“inhabitant of a district”). Doublet of paisano. Via Latin pāgus cognate with pagan (compare typologically, see there for more). In present-day use, it can mean a poor farmer or farm worker, especially in the past or in poorer countries, or a rude or badly behaved person. Derived formations include antipeasant, nonpeasant, peasantess, peasanthood, peasantish.

## Topics
- Plants & Agriculture
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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peasant

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