English
peasant
Peasant comes from Old French païsant ‘countryman, peasant’, from Late Latin pāgēnsis ‘inhabitant of a district’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- ‘to attach, fix, fasten’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-1‘to attach, fix, fasten’root named by Wiktionary
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEpāgēnsis1‘inhabitant of a district’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpāgus1‘countryside’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400païs1‘country’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400païsant1‘countryman, peasant’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400paisant1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500paissaunt1
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602peasant1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English peasant
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “Oh what a Rogue and Pesant slave am I?”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-Wiktionary, English peasant‘to attach, fix, fasten’root named by Wiktionary
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEpāgēnsisWiktionary, English peasant‘inhabitant of a district’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpāgusWiktionary, English peasant‘countryside’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400païsWiktionary, English peasant‘country’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400païsantWiktionary, English peasant‘countryman, peasant’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400paisantWiktionary, English peasant
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500paissauntWiktionary, English peasant
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602peasantWiktionary, English peasant. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “Oh what a Rogue and Pesant slave am I?”
The story
From Late Middle English paissaunt, from Anglo-Norman paisant, from Old French païsant, païsan (‘countryman, peasant’), from païs (‘country’), from Latin pāgus (‘countryside’) + Old French -enc (‘member of’), from Frankish -inc, -ing "-ing"; which was an alteration of earlier Late Latin pāgēnsis (‘inhabitant of a district’). Via Latin pāgus cognate with pagan (compare typologically, see there for more).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- ‘to attach, fix, fasten’
page, travel, pole, pale, compact, propaganda, peel, propagate, pala, paganism, travail, palisade, impinge, pagination, pectin, impactor, 28 more
through Latin pāgus ‘countryside’
through Old French païs ‘country’
Today it means
noun A member of the lowly social class that toils on the land, constituted by small farmers and tenants, sharecroppers, farmhands and other laborers on the land where they form the main labor force in agriculture and horticulture.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “peasant”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- / peasant