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peasantry

[pez-uh n-tree]
noun
  1. peasants collectively.
  2. the status or character of a peasant.
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Origin of peasantry

First recorded in 1545–55; peasant + -ry
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for peasantry

Historical Examples

  • The peasantry used to eat its tops as greens, and cook the roots in stews.

    The Mayflower, January, 1905

    Various

  • The blood of the peasantry manured the ground, out of which was to grow the harvest.

    Blood and Iron

    John Hubert Greusel

  • He knew of the brutal ferocity of which that peasantry was capable.

    The Snare

    Rafael Sabatini

  • The peasantry followed him, though leisurely, in their timid hesitation.

  • But for England the Donegal peasantry would have no market for their goods.

    Ireland as It Is

    Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)

British Dictionary definitions for peasantry

peasantry

noun
  1. peasants as a class
  2. conduct characteristic of peasants
  3. the status of a peasant
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for peasantry

n.

1550s, from peasant + -ry.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper