ceorl

/tʃɜrl/
noun
  1. In early English history, a free peasant or farmer of the lowest social class, ranking below a noble but above a slave.
    • In Anglo-Saxon society, a ceorl could own property and even rise in status through wealth.
    • The ceorl worked his own small plot of land and owed service to the local lord.
    • The village ceorl gathered with others to discuss the harvest and local laws.
Antonyms
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