serf English · revision 1509

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1483}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sɜːf/ ''(UK)''; /sɝf/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|serf|t=vassal, servant, slave]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from [[la|servus|t=slave]] (accusative [[m|la|servum]]),^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Klein 1966) see [[serve]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) Weekley thought the Latin word originally meant a keeper of cattle, from [[m|la|servāre|t=to preserve]].^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A slave or bondman (1483 in the OED and Barnhart; late 15th century in Etymonline).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word had fallen out of use in this sense by the 18th century^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) but was revived.^(Weekley 1921) From 1611, after French usage, it named the lowest class of cultivators of the soil in Poland, Russia and other European countries, living in a modified slavery.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) From 1761 modern writers applied it to the medieval peasant bound to the land and passed with it from one lord to the next.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023) By transfer it is used of anyone in servitude (1847).^(OED 1989)^(AHD) ''Serfdom'' is recorded from 1850.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1483 – a slave, bondman.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1611 – a peasant of continental Europe in servitude.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1761 – a medieval villein.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1850 – ''serfdom''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A member of a [[servile]] class in medieval Europe, bound to the land and owned or controlled by a lord, and transferred with the land to a new owner.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any person in [[servitude]]; a slave.^(AHD)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[serfdom]]

+ * [[enserf]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[service]]

+ * [[servile]]

+ * [[servitor]]

+ * [[servitude]]

+ * [[servo]]

+ * [[serve]]

+ * [[servant]]

+ * [[villein]]

+ * [[vassal]]

+ * [[thrall]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}