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serf

Pronunciation: /sɜːf/

The English word “serf” has 3 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A partially free peasant of a low hereditary class, attached like a slave to the land owned by a feudal lord and required to perform labour, enjoying minimal legal or customary rights.
  2. A similar agricultural labourer in 18th and 19th century Europe.
  3. A worker unit.

Etymology

From Middle English serf, from Old French serf, from Latin servus (“slave, serf, servant”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.