noun
- A tenant farmer or agricultural laborer in ancient Rome who was bound to the land and owed services to the landowner.
Usage: historical; Latin origin; plural: coloni
Examples
- The colonus worked the estate fields in exchange for protection and a portion of the harvest.
- Under Roman law, a colonus was legally tied to the land and could not leave without the owner's permission.
- The status of colonus eventually became hereditary, passing from parent to child.
- Many coloni formed the backbone of the Roman agricultural economy.
- Unlike a slave, a colonus retained certain legal rights and could own property.