serf
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English serf, from Old French serf, from Latin servus (“slave, serf, servant”).
Pronunciation edit
- (UK) IPA(key): /sɜːf/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (US) IPA(key): /sɝf/
- Homophone: surf (in accents with the fern-fir-fur merger)
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)f
Noun edit
serf (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.
- A similar agricultural labourer in 18th and 19th century Europe.
- (strategy games) A worker unit.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
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See also edit
Anagrams edit
Catalan edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
serf m (plural serfs, feminine serva)
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “serf” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
From Middle Dutch serf, from Old French serf, from Latin servus.
Noun edit
serf m (plural serven, diminutive serfje n)
- a serf (semifree peasant obliged to remain on the lord's land and to perform extensive chores for him)
- Synonyms: horige, laat, lijfeigene
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Middle French serf, from Old French serf, from Latin servus (“slave, serf, servant”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo- (“guardian”), or perhaps of Etruscan origin.
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): (usually) /sɛʁf/, (rarely) /sɛʁ/
Audio (file) - Homophones: serfs (general), cerf, cerfs (some speakers), serre, serrent, serres, sers, sert (rare form only)
Noun edit
serf m (plural serfs, feminine serve)
- a serf (semifree peasant obliged to remain on the lord's land and to perform extensive chores for him)
Adjective edit
serf (feminine serve, masculine plural serfs, feminine plural serves)
- being or like a serf, semifree
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “serf”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams edit
Mauritian Creole edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
serf
Middle French edit
Etymology edit
From Old French serf.
Noun edit
serf m (plural serfs)
- serf (semifree peasant)
Descendants edit
- French: serf
Northern Kurdish edit
Etymology edit
From Arabic صرف (ṣarf, “expense”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
serf f
Old French edit
Etymology 1 edit
Noun edit
serf oblique singular, m (oblique plural sers, nominative singular sers, nominative plural serf)
- serf (semifree peasant)
Descendants edit
Etymology 2 edit
See servir
Verb edit
serf
Seychellois Creole edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
serf
References edit
- Danielle D’Offay et Guy Lionnet, Diksyonner Kreol - Franse / Dictionnaire Créole Seychellois - Français