serf
/sɜrf/
noun
- A person who was forced to work on a piece of land and could not leave without permission, especially in medieval Europe.
- The serf worked long hours in the fields but received only a small plot to grow food for his own family.
- Unlike a slave, a serf could not be bought or sold separately from the land.
- In the Middle Ages, a serf was bound to the land owned by a noble.
- A person who is treated unfairly and has very little freedom, often in a modern or figurative sense.
- In some countries, debt can turn a person into a modern serf.
- He refused to be a serf to corporate demands and started his own business.
- The factory workers felt like serfs under the harsh management.