noun
- a feudal tenant bound to work on a lord’s estate and unable to leave without permission
Usage: historical
Examples
- Medieval serfs worked the land but could not own it.
- The serf was tied to the manor and could not move freely.
- Serfs owed labor and crops to their feudal lord.
- Life as a serf was harsh and restrictive.
- The abolition of serfdom freed millions of peasants.
- Russian serfs were emancipated in 1861.