serf

American  

[surf] / sɜrf /

noun

1. a person in a condition of feudal servitude, required to render services to a lord, commonly attached to the lord's land and transferred with it from one owner to another.

   Synonyms:

   peasant, villein, vassal

2. a worker who is underpaid, overworked, or otherwise exploited.

   Today's service-sector serfs are fighting for the most basic of job perks: a decent paycheck, a stable schedule, and paid time off when they are sick.

3. Obsolete. a person held in bondage or slavery.

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serf British  

/ sɜːf /

noun

1. (esp in medieval Europe) an unfree person, esp one bound to the land. If his lord sold the land, the serf was passed on to the new landlord

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serf Cultural  

1. Under feudalism, a peasant bound to his lord's land and subject to his lord's will, but entitled to his lord's protection.

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Other Word Forms

• serfdom noun
• serflike adjective

Etymology

Origin of serf

First recorded in 1475–85; from Old French, from Latin servus “slave”

Explanation

A serf is a person who is forced to work on a plot of land, especially during the medieval period when Europe practiced feudalism, when a few lords owned all the land and everyone else had to toil on it. In Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries, large plots of land were ruled by lords who made serfs work the land for the lords’ profit. The Latin root of the word is servus, which literally means “slave,” but serf and slave are not synonyms. There were many kinds of serfs, some of which were indeed slaves, but others were more like employees who had some limited freedom. Either way, a serf’s life was a brutal and unpleasant life.

Example Sentences

The opening ensembles transported the audience back in time amid contemporary fusions, channeling the essence of a serf, the medieval agricultural laborer.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 2, 2024

It has also accused the Dalai Lama of spearheading a failed uprising in 1959 in order to "preserve the theocratic serf system".

From BBC • Apr. 20, 2023

When I read her work, I imagine Monty Python’s oppressed serf calling out, “there’s some lovely filth down here,” gleefully harvesting a great big pile of squelching sludge.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 17, 2022

Nobi, the hereditary serf class, had existed for centuries.

From New York Times • Apr. 7, 2021

And browner than a serf in summer, I swear it.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz