peasantry
PEZ-uhn-tree
/ˈpez.ən.tri/
Small-scale agricultural laborers or traditional rural workers as a social class.
Refers collectively to rural agriculturalists tied to local traditional social structures and obligations.
The story behind the word. Traced back through Old French 'païs' (country/region), originating from Latin 'pagus' (rural district), which also gave us the word pagan.
Word relationships
- smallholders: Smallholders explicitly owns or rents small plots, whereas peasantry denotes a traditional socio-economic class.
- aristocracy: Aristocracy forms the landowning upper ruling class, opposite the working peasantry.
Commonly confused with
- peasant: Peasant refers to an individual person, whereas peasantry denotes the entire social class collectively.
Word family
- peasant (noun): An individual agricultural laborer of low social status.
Collocations
- feudal peasantry
- impoverished peasantry
- rebellion of the peasantry
- traditional peasantry
Example sentences
- "The European peasantry provided the essential agricultural surplus that supported urban medieval centers." European historical sociology
- "Rebellions led by the discontented peasantry broke out during periods of extreme taxation." Peasant movements history
Memory hook
Peasantry sounds like 'peasants tree'—a whole family tree of traditional countryside farm workers. Pagus = rural district = peasantry.
When not to use
Avoid using in modern high-tech commercial farming contexts, where 'farmers' or 'agricultural workers' is accurate.
Fun facts
- The root 'pagus' originally designated a boundary marker driven into the ground in rural districts.
Related words
Explore more words
tribal, grassroots, village, proletariat, societal, pastoral
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