Meanings
plural serfs
- 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.
See how the serfs work the ground / And they give it all they’ve got
2012, ミラクルミュージカル, “The Mind Electric”, in Hawaii: Part IISynonyms: helot
- A similar agricultural labourer in 18th and 19th century Europe.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA 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.
More synonyms by meaning
noun(Middle Ages) a person who is bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinservus“slave, serf, servant”
- Old Frenchserf
- Middle Englishserf
- Englishserf
From Middle English serf, from Old French serf, from Latin servus (“slave, serf, servant”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek θής, θῆσσα
- θής (thḗs)semifree peasant
- θῆσσα (thêssa)semifree peasant
Arabic قِنّ
- قِنّ (qinn)semifree peasant
Bulgarian кре́постник, кре́постничка
- кре́постник (krépostnik)semifree peasant
- кре́постничка (krépostnička)semifree peasant
- кре́постен се́лянин (kréposten séljanin)semifree peasant
Catalan serf
- serfsemifree peasant
Chinese Mandarin 農奴 /农奴
- 農奴 /农奴 (nóngnú)semifree peasant
Czech nevolník
- nevolníksemifree peasant
Danish livegen
- livegensemifree peasant
Dutch horige, laat
- horigesemifree peasant
- laatsemifree peasant
- lijfeigenesemifree peasant
- serfsemifree peasant
Estonian pärisori
- pärisorisemifree peasant
Finnish maaorja
- maaorjasemifree peasant
French serf
- serfsemifree peasant
German Leibeigener
- Leibeigenersemifree peasant
Greek δουλοπάροικος, κολλίγας
- δουλοπάροικος (doulopároikos)semifree peasant
- κολλίγας (kollígas)semifree peasant
Hebrew צמית, אריס
- צמית (tsamit)semifree peasant
- אריס (aris)semifree peasant
Hungarian jobbágy
- jobbágysemifree peasant
Irish seirfeach, daoirseach
- seirfeachsemifree peasant
- daoirseachsemifree peasant
- daorsemifree peasant
Italian servo della gleba
- servo della glebasemifree peasant
Japanese 農奴, 小作人
- 農奴 (nōdo)semifree peasant
- 小作人 (kosakunin)semifree peasant
Korean 농노
- 농노 (nongno)semifree peasant
Latin colōnus
- colōnussemifree peasant
Māori rōpā, poroteke
- rōpāsemifree peasant
- porotekesemifree peasant
Norwegian Bokmål leilending, livegen
- leilendingsemifree peasant
- livegensemifree peasant
Polish chłop pańszczyźniany, kmieć
- chłop pańszczyźnianysemifree peasant
- kmiećsemifree peasant
Portuguese servo
- servosemifree peasant
Romanian iobag, șerb
- iobagsemifree peasant
- șerbsemifree peasant
Russian крепостно́й, крепостна́я
- крепостно́й (krepostnój)semifree peasant
- крепостна́я (krepostnája)semifree peasant
- холо́п (xolóp)semifree peasant
Slovak nevoľník
- nevoľníksemifree peasant
Spanish siervo
- siervosemifree peasant
Swedish livegen
- livegensemifree peasant
Thai ไพร่, ข้าไพร่
- ไพร่ (prâi)semifree peasant
- ข้าไพร่semifree peasant
Ukrainian кріпосни́й, кріпосна́
- кріпосни́й (kriposnýj)semifree peasant
- кріпосна́ (kriposná)semifree peasant
- кріпа́к (kripák)semifree peasant
Vietnamese nông nô
- nông nôsemifree peasant
Welsh taeog
- taeogsemifree peasant
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with serf
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
serf. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/serf
“serf.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/serf. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “serf,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/serf.
Source: serf on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.