noun
peasant
PEH-zuhnt
noun
1
Historically, a small farmer or agricultural laborer, especially one with a low social and economic status.
"Medieval peasants worked the lord's land in exchange for protection."
2
Informal and often insulting: an unsophisticated or uncultured person.
""Eating pizza with a fork? You absolute peasant," he joked."
How to Use Peasant
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishHistorically a poor rural farmworker; today often used jokingly or rudely to call someone unrefined.
When to use it
The modern casual use ("you peasant") is playful or mocking, not a neutral historical term.
Word Forms
peasants plural
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Medieval _____ worked the lord's land in exchange for protection.
Etymology
From Old French païsant ("countryman"), from païs ("country, region"), ultimately from Latin pāgus ("rural district") — the same root as "pagan".