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History vocabulary · Social History

Peasant

Meaning in history, with examples

/ˈpeznt/nounCore term

In history, peasant means: A person who lives in the countryside and farms a small piece of land with family labour, often paying rent, taxes or labour services to a landowner or the state.

In Turkish: köylü, küçük çiftçi

How it is used

A neutral technical term in history and social science for pre-industrial and agrarian societies: peasant households, peasant revolts, the peasantry (peasants as a class). In everyday modern English, calling someone a peasant can be an insult.

Example sentences

  1. Most of the empire's population were peasants who paid taxes in cash and in kind.

  2. The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 began as a protest against a new poll tax.

Common collocations

  • peasant revolt
  • peasant household
  • the peasantry
  • landless peasants
  • peasant farmers
  • serfIn medieval and early modern Europe, a peasant who was legally bound to a lord's land, owed labour and dues, and could not leave without permission.
  • feudalismA term for the social and political order of medieval Europe in which lords granted land to vassals in return for loyalty and military service, while peasants worked the land.
  • agrarianRelating to farming, land and the people who work it, or describing a society or economy based mainly on agriculture.
  • social classA group of people in a society who share a similar economic position, such as wealth, occupation or education, and often similar status and opportunities.
  • uprisingAn act of resistance in which a group of people rise up against those in power, usually in a particular region or city and often with few weapons.

More terms: Social History

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