serf
Manor-bound laborer
A serf was a peasant bound to the land under feudalism, obligated to work for a lord in exchange for protection and the right to farm a portion of the estate.
Unlike slaves, serfs couldn't be sold apart from their land, but they couldn't leave it either.
The term now suggests anyone in a position of servitude or degrading labor: We're just serfs to the corporation.
Land-holding sworn subordinate
- villeinFeudal tenant farmer
- liegeFeudal superior or subject
- fiefdomFeudal territory under lord
- manorialismMedieval estate labor system
demesne · bondage · thrall · overlord · suzerain · tenure · seigneur · homage
Involuntary subjugation to another
peon · enslaved · yoke · subjection · chattel · indentured · exploited · disenfranchised
Resident of small rural home
- villeinFeudal tenant farmer
- bondmanMale held in servitude
- churlRude, surly person
- peasantryRural working class
rustic · villager · croft · tiller · countryman · countryfolk · hinds · smallholder
vassal
Land-holding sworn subordinate
manorialism · demesne · bondage · thrall · overlord · suzerain · tenure · seigneur · homage · fealty
bondage
Involuntary subjugation to another
helot · peon · enslaved · yoke · subjection · chattel · indentured · exploited · disenfranchised · manumission
cottager
Resident of small rural home
peasantry · rustic · villager · croft · tiller · countryman · countryfolk · hinds · smallholder · tenant farmer
manor
Landed aristocratic residence
castle · noble · seneschal · reeve · guild · Black Death · plague · famine · crusades · Domesday Book
tillage
Soil preparation for planting
threshing · husbandry · cultivation · scythe · oxen · fallow · drudgery · toil · backbreaking · exertion
- feudal ranksbaron, lord, earl, count, knight
- feudal tenantvillein, peasant, vassal, copyholder, bondsman
- Norman EraNormans, William the Conqueror, Norman conquest, Domesday Book, Battle of Hastings
- historyancient civilizations, past events, historian, epochs, era
- medievalknights, castles, cathedral, kings, queens
- Medieval Europekings, queens, knights, castles, castle
serffreeman
Unchained person with rights
lord · master · liege lord · feudal lord · freedman
- room serviceHotel meal delivery
- customer serviceAssistance for buyers
- out of serviceNot currently functioning
- lip serviceInsincere expression of agreement
- community serviceUnpaid labor benefiting society
- first come, first servedEarliest arrivals get precedence
service, serving, servant, served, server, sergeant, servitude, servile, subservient