noun
- a farm laborer or tenant who occupies a cottage, typically in exchange for labor
Usage: chiefly British; historical
Examples
- The cottar worked the lord’s fields in return for his small dwelling.
- Many cottars lived in simple one-room houses on the estate.
- The feudal system included cottars among the lowest class of agricultural workers.
- Scottish cottars often had tiny plots of land to grow their own food.
- The cottar’s family helped with the harvest each autumn.
- Life as a cottar was difficult, with little security or income.