English
peasant
Peasant comes from Old French païsant ‘countryman, peasant’, from Late Latin pāgēnsis ‘inhabitant of a district’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- ‘to attach, fix, fasten’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-‘to attach, fix, fasten’root as named
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEpāgēnsis‘inhabitant of a district’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpāgus‘countryside’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400païs‘country’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400païsant‘countryman, peasant’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400paisant
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500paissaunt
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602peasant
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-‘to attach, fix, fasten’root as named
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEpāgēnsis‘inhabitant of a district’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpāgus‘countryside’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400païs‘country’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400païsant‘countryman, peasant’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400paisant
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500paissaunt
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602peasant
Earliest quotation: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “Oh what a Rogue and Pesant slave am I?”
The story
From Late Middle English paissaunt, from Anglo-Norman paisant, from Old French païsant, païsan (‘countryman, peasant’), from païs (‘country’), from Latin pāgus (‘countryside’) + Old French -enc (‘member of’), from Frankish -inc, -ing "-ing"; which was an alteration of earlier Late Latin pāgēnsis (‘inhabitant of a district’). Via Latin pāgus cognate with pagan (compare typologically, see there for more).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- ‘to attach, fix, fasten’
page, travel, pole, pale, compact, propaganda, peel, propagate, pala, paganism, travail, palisade, impinge, pagination, pectin, impactor, 28 more
through Latin pāgus ‘countryside’
through Old French païs ‘country’
Today it means
noun A member of the lowly social class that toils on the land, constituted by small farmers and tenants, sharecroppers, farmhands and other laborers on the land where they form the main labor force in agriculture and horticulture.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- / peasant