Serf
noun
A person in the past who lived and worked on the land of a lord in exchange for protection and the right to live on and use the land.
In medieval Europe, most of the population consisted of serfs.
Often appears as...
- feudal serf
- serf labour
Usage tips
Historical
noun
Someone who works very hard and depends on someone powerful for protection and other needs in the present time.
He was treated like a serf by his employer.
Often appears as...
- modern serf
- corporate serf
Usage tips
Disapproving
Colloquial
noun
A person in the past who lived and worked on the land of a lord in exchange for protection and the right to live on and use the land.
In medieval Europe, most of the population consisted of serfs.
Often appears as...
- feudal serf
- serf labour
Usage tips
Historical
noun
Someone who works very hard and depends on someone powerful for protection and other needs in the present time.
He was treated like a serf by his employer.
Often appears as...
- modern serf
- corporate serf
Usage tips
Disapproving
Colloquial
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Historical Context
Understand 'serf' as part of the feudal system where social hierarchy was strict.
History books often describe the lives of serfs during the Middle Ages.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Slaves
'Serf' does not mean 'slave'; serfs had some rights and personal freedom.
Unlike slaves, serfs could not be bought or sold.
Pro Tip 3/3Bound to Land
Serfs were tied to their lord's land, which they worked on to earn living rights.
A serf's duty often included tending to their lord's fields and caring for livestock.
Pro Tip 1/3Historical Context
Understand 'serf' as part of the feudal system where social hierarchy was strict.
History books often describe the lives of serfs during the Middle Ages.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Slaves
'Serf' does not mean 'slave'; serfs had some rights and personal freedom.
Unlike slaves, serfs could not be bought or sold.
Pro Tip 3/3Bound to Land
Serfs were tied to their lord's land, which they worked on to earn living rights.
A serf's duty often included tending to their lord's fields and caring for livestock.
Pro Tip 1/3Historical Context
Understand 'serf' as part of the feudal system where social hierarchy was strict.
History books often describe the lives of serfs during the Middle Ages.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Slaves
'Serf' does not mean 'slave'; serfs had some rights and personal freedom.
Unlike slaves, serfs could not be bought or sold.
Pro Tip 3/3Bound to Land
Serfs were tied to their lord's land, which they worked on to earn living rights.
A serf's duty often included tending to their lord's fields and caring for livestock.
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Video examples
Why should you read...
both about the big events of history and the small lives that inhabit those events. He focused on aristocrats, the class he knew best. The book only occasionally touches on the lives of the vast majority of the Russian population, who were peasants, or even serfs, farmers bound to serve the owners of the land on which they lived.
Video examples
Juan Enriquez: The...
Two billion people. One third of the global population producing 5 percent of the wealth because they didn't get this change, because they kept treating their people like serfs instead of like shareholders of a common project.
Video examples
Human-powered mobility...
hi everybody I'm a soft Biderman can Marathi and you know a serf and I grew up in two smaller cities we embody Italy
Video examples
Why should you read...
both about the big events of history and the small lives that inhabit those events. He focused on aristocrats, the class he knew best. The book only occasionally touches on the lives of the vast majority of the Russian population, who were peasants, or even serfs, farmers bound to serve the owners of the land on which they lived.
Video examples
Juan Enriquez: The...
Two billion people. One third of the global population producing 5 percent of the wealth because they didn't get this change, because they kept treating their people like serfs instead of like shareholders of a common project.
Video examples
Human-powered mobility...
hi everybody I'm a soft Biderman can Marathi and you know a serf and I grew up in two smaller cities we embody Italy
Example 1 of 3
Quote examples
Niger Innis
American Activist
The purposeful restriction of knowledge has been at the heart of untold misery and hardship in this world. Serfs were kept illiterate so as to not jeopardize the feudal system. Slaves were kept in the dark on a variety of subjects so as to not provide them the possibility of escape.
Quote examples
Denis Kearney
American Politician
They are imported by companies, controlled as serfs, worked like slaves, and at last go back to China with all their earnings. They are in every place, they seem to have no sex. Boys work, girls work; it is all alike to them.
Quote examples
Steve Jurvetson
American Businessman
The concept of a 'job' is pretty recent. If you go back a few hundred years, everyone was either a slave or a serf, or living off slave or serf labor to pursue science or philosophy or art.
Quote examples
Joseph Sobran
American Activist
Most Americans aren't the sort of citizens the Founding Fathers expected; they are contented serfs. Far from being active critics of government, they assume that its might makes it right.
Quote examples
Tony Gilroy
American Writer
Corporations are like countries now, there's a king, there are serfs, there's a court, basically everything but moats. They're feudal societies, and there are good ones and bad ones.
Quote examples
Saul David
British Historian
Even a moderniser like Alexander II - who emancipated the serfs in 1861 - had no intention of devolving real power.
Quote examples
Julian Assange
Australian Activist
Knowledge has always flowed upwards to bishops and kings, not down to serfs and slaves.
Quote examples
Simon Sebag Montefiore
British Historian
Alexander II really used autocracy well to negotiate the freeing of the serfs in 1861.
Quote examples
John Lothrop Motley
American Historian
The crusades made great improvement in the condition of the serfs.
Quote examples
Amitava Kumar
Indian Writer
I am an artless serf of Cupid.
Quote examples
Niger Innis
American Activist
The purposeful restriction of knowledge has been at the heart of untold misery and hardship in this world. Serfs were kept illiterate so as to not jeopardize the feudal system. Slaves were kept in the dark on a variety of subjects so as to not provide them the possibility of escape.
Quote examples
Denis Kearney
American Politician
They are imported by companies, controlled as serfs, worked like slaves, and at last go back to China with all their earnings. They are in every place, they seem to have no sex. Boys work, girls work; it is all alike to them.
Quote examples
Steve Jurvetson
American Businessman
The concept of a 'job' is pretty recent. If you go back a few hundred years, everyone was either a slave or a serf, or living off slave or serf labor to pursue science or philosophy or art.
Quote examples
Joseph Sobran
American Activist
Most Americans aren't the sort of citizens the Founding Fathers expected; they are contented serfs. Far from being active critics of government, they assume that its might makes it right.
Quote examples
Tony Gilroy
American Writer
Corporations are like countries now, there's a king, there are serfs, there's a court, basically everything but moats. They're feudal societies, and there are good ones and bad ones.
Quote examples
Saul David
British Historian
Even a moderniser like Alexander II - who emancipated the serfs in 1861 - had no intention of devolving real power.
Quote examples
Julian Assange
Australian Activist
Knowledge has always flowed upwards to bishops and kings, not down to serfs and slaves.
Quote examples
Simon Sebag Montefiore
British Historian
Alexander II really used autocracy well to negotiate the freeing of the serfs in 1861.
Quote examples
John Lothrop Motley
American Historian
The crusades made great improvement in the condition of the serfs.
Quote examples
Amitava Kumar
Indian Writer
I am an artless serf of Cupid.
Example 1 of 10
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