serf

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /sɝf/ UK /sɜːf/ See IPA manual

Homophones

surf /sɝf/

Meanings

1

noun
a feudal laborer bound to and transferred with the land

Under the old system the serf could not leave the manor.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a feudal laborer bound to... villeinvassal peasantbondsmanthrallhelot

Opposites

lord freeman master

Word family

Derived forms serfdomserfageserfhood

Related forms servile servant serve

Etymology

From French serf, from Latin servus ('slave, servant'), of uncertain ultimate origin but possibly from an Etruscan source.

servus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# serf

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /sɝf/
**IPA (UK):** /sɜːf/

## Meanings
1. a feudal laborer bound to and transferred with the land

## Examples
- Under the old system the serf could not leave the manor.

## Synonyms
- villein
- vassal
- peasant
- bondsman
- thrall
- helot

## Antonyms
- lord
- freeman
- master

## Derived Forms
- serfdom
- serfage
- serfhood

## Related Forms
- servile
- servant
- serve

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: servus

## Etymology
From French serf, from Latin servus ('slave, servant'), of uncertain ultimate origin but possibly from an Etruscan source.

## AI Etymology
Serf comes from French serf, from Latin servus ('slave, servant'), of uncertain ultimate origin but possibly from an Etruscan source. The historical chain includes Latin servus. The quoted older sense, "slave, servant," supplies the immediate semantic anchor for serf. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word serf carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "a feudal laborer bound to and transferred with the land". English derivatives include serfdom, serfage, and serfhood; related English forms include servile, servant, and serve. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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