Word Meanings - SERF - Book Publishers vocabulary database

A servant or slave employed in husbandry, and in some countries attached to the soil and transferred with it, as formerly in Russia. In England, at least from the reign of Henry II, one only, and that the inferior species , existed . . . But by

Additional info about word: SERF

A servant or slave employed in husbandry, and in some countries attached to the soil and transferred with it, as formerly in Russia. In England, at least from the reign of Henry II, one only, and that the inferior species , existed . . . But by the customs of France and Germany, persons in this abject state seem to have been called serfs, and distinguished from villeins, who were only bound to fixed payments and duties in respect of their lord, though, as it seems, without any legal redress if injured by him. Hallam. Syn. -- Serf, Slave. A slave is the absolute property of his master, and may be sold in any way. A serf, according to the strict sense of the term, is one bound to work on a certain estate, and thus attached to the soil, and sold with it into the service of whoever purchases the land. (more info) protect, preserve, observe, and perhaps originally, a client, a man

Possible synonyms: (Same meaning words of SERF)

• Bondsman
• Slave
• serf
• prisoner
• captive
• vassal

Related words: (words related to SERF)

• BONDSMAN
  A surety; one who is bound, or who gives security, for another. (more info) 1. A slave; a villain; a serf; a bondman. Carnal, greedy people, without such a precept, would have no mercy upon their poor bondsmen. Derham.
• SLAVEOCRACY
  See SLAVOCRACY
• SLAVEHOLDING
  Holding persons in slavery.
• VASSALESS
  A female vassal. Spenser.
• VASSALAGE
  1. The state of being a vassal, or feudatory. 2. Political servitude; dependence; subjection; slavery; as, the Greeks were held in vassalage by the Turks. 3. A territory held in vassalage. "The Countship of Foix, with six territorial vassalages."
• VASSAL
  The grantee of a fief, feud, or fee; one who holds land of superior, and who vows fidelity and homage to him; a feudatory; a feudal tenant. Burrill. 2. A subject; a dependent; a servant; a slave. "The vassals of his anger." Milton. Rear vassal,
• SLAVERY
  1. The condition of a slave; the state of entire subjection of one person to the will of another. Disguise thyself as thou wilt, still, slavery, said I, still thou art a bitter draught! Sterne. I wish, from my soul, that the legislature of this
• SLAVEBORN
  Born in slavery.
• CAPTIVE
  1. A prisoner taken by force or stratagem, esp., by an enemy, in war; one kept in bondage or in the power of another. Then, when I am thy captive, talk of chains. Milton. 2. One charmed or subdued by beaty, excellence, or affection; one who is
• SLAVERER
  A driveler; an idiot.
• VASSALRY
  The body of vassals.
• SLAVEHOLDER
  One who holds slaves.
• SLAVERING
  Drooling; defiling with saliva. -- Slav"er*ing*ly, adv.
• SLAVER
  1. A vessel engaged in the slave trade; a slave ship. 2. A person engaged in the purchase and sale of slaves; a slave merchant, or slave trader. The slaver's hand was on the latch, He seemed in haste to go. Longfellow.
• PRISONER
  1. One who is confined in a prison. Piers Plowman. 2. A person under arrest, or in custody, whether in prison or not; a person held in involuntary restraint; a captive; as, a prisoner at the bar of a court. Bouvier. Prisoner of Hope thou art, --
• SLAVEY
  A maidservant.
• SLAVE
  See SLAV
• ENSLAVEMENT
  The act of reducing to slavery; state of being enslaved; bondage; servitude. A fresh enslavement to their enemies. South.
• ENSLAVEDNESS
  State of being enslaved.
• REENSLAVE
  To enslave again.
• ENVASSAL
  To make a vassal of.
• WHITE SLAVE
  A woman held in involuntary confinement for purposes of prostitution; loosely, any woman forced into unwilling prostitution.
• ANTISLAVERY
  Opposed to slavery. -- n.
• DISENSLAVE
  To free from bondage or slavery; to disenthrall. He shall disenslave and redeem his soul. South.
• WHITE SLAVER
  A person engaged in procuring or holding a woman or women for unwilling prostitution.
• IMPRISONER
  One who imprisons.
• PROSLAVERY
  Favoring slavery. -- n.