peasantry

[ pez-uhn-tree ]

/ ˈpɛz ən tri /

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noun

peasants collectively.

the status or character of a peasant.

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Origin of peasantry

First recorded in 1545–55; peasant + -ry

Words nearby peasantry

Peary, Peary Land, Peary, Robert E., peasant, peasant proprietor, peasantry, peasanty, pease, pease-brose, peasecod, peasecod breastplate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use peasantry in a sentence

Born two years before Mao Zedong’s Communist Revolution, Jin Liqun was “sent down” by the party to help rural peasantry as a young man, and spent his teens farming paddy rice, wheat and cotton in the sunbaked countryside.
How Jin Liqun Charted an Independent Course for China's Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank|Charlie Campbell / Beijing|February 19, 2021|Time
One problem - the residents of Stoke Climsland are no longer humble peasantry prepared to take this kind of nonsense lying down.
Outrage as Prince Charles Tells Villagers He Owns The Land Beneath their Homes|Tom Sykes|November 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
There can be no permanent disfranchised peasantry in the United States.
The Best - And Worst - Post-Civil War Presidential Speeches on Race|David Frum|January 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The Irish Peasantry are idle, the English say truly enough; but who inquires whether there is any work within their reach?
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley

But it was not only among the peasantry that this belief in the extreme antiquity of tobacco pipes existed.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
She was delighted with these indications of gratitude and sensibility on the part of the unenlightened and lowly peasantry.
Madame Roland, Makers of History|John S. C. Abbott
The miserable ignorance of the peasantry is a disgrace to the landed gentry, and loudly calls for reform.
The World Before Them|Susanna Moodie
It is said to be not unusual, for the peasantry of Liverpool, to speak of Mr. Bell, as a benefactor of the emigrant domestics.
The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States|Martin R. Delany

British Dictionary definitions for peasantry

peasantry

/ (ˈpɛzəntrɪ) /

noun

peasants as a class

conduct characteristic of peasants

the status of a peasant

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