Where does “peasantry” come from?
Peasantry comes from English peasant, from Middle English paissaunt, from Anglo-Norman paisant, from Middle French païsant, from Old French païsan, from Latin pagus meaning district or country, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European peh₂ǵ-.
peasantry (English): Impoverished rural farm workers, either as serfs,...
Definitions
- Impoverished rural farm workers, either as serfs,...
Ancestry of “peasantry”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | peasant | A member of the lowly social class that toils on... |
| 2 | Middle English | paissaunt | — |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | paisant | Alternative form of paisan |
| 4 | Old French | païsant | Alternative form of paisan |
| 5 | Old French | païs | Alternative form of pais; country |
| 6 | Medieval Latin | pagensis | — |
| 7 | Latin | pāgus | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | pāgos | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | peh₂ǵos | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | peh₂ǵ- | to attach |
Words derived from “peasantry”