# serf
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English serf, from Old French serf, from Latin servus (“slave, serf, servant”).

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /sɜːf/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (US) IPA: /sɝf/
* Homophone: surf (fern–fir–fur merger)
* Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)f

### Noun

serf (plural serfs)
* A partially free peasant of a low hereditary class, attached like a slave to the land owned by a feudal lord and required to perform labour, enjoying minimal legal or customary rights.
* A similar agricultural labourer in 18th and 19th century Europe.
* (strategy games) A worker unit.
    Synonyms: peasant, peon, villager

#### Derived terms

* serfage
* serfdom
* serfhood
* serfish
* serfism

#### Related terms

* service
* servile
* servitor
* servitude
* servo

#### Translations
### See also

* slave

### Anagrams

* ESRF, FERS, RFEs, Refs, erfs, refs

## Catalan
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin servus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [ˈserf]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈseɾf]

### Noun

serf m (plural serfs, feminine serva)
* serf

#### Related terms

* servitud

### Further reading

* “serf” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

## Dutch
### Etymology

From Middle Dutch serf, from Old French serf, from Latin servus.

### Noun

serf m (plural serven, diminutive serfje n)
* a serf (semifree peasant obliged to remain on the lord's land and to perform extensive chores for him)
    Synonyms: halfvrije, horige, laat, lijfeigene

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Middle French serf, from Old French serf, from Latin servus (“slave, serf, servant”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo- (“guardian”), or perhaps of Etruscan origin.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (usually) /sɛʁf/, (rarely) /sɛʁ/
* Audio:(file)
* Homophones: serfs (general), cerf, cerfs (some speakers), serre, serrent, serres, sers, sert (rare form only)

### Noun

serf m (plural serfs, feminine serve)
* a serf (semifree peasant obliged to remain on the lord's land and to perform extensive chores for him)

### Adjective

serf (feminine serve, masculine plural serfs, feminine plural serves)
* being or like a serf, semifree

#### Related terms

* sergent
* servant
* service m
* servile
* servir (verb)
* servitude

### Further reading

* “serf”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* fers

## Mauritian Creole
### Etymology

From French cerf.

### Noun

serf
* deer

## Middle French
### Etymology

From Old French serf.

### Noun

serf m (plural serfs)
* serf (semifree peasant)

#### Descendants

* French: serf

## Northern Kurdish
### Etymology

From Arabic صرف (ṣarf, “expense”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛɾf/

### Noun

serf f
* expense, cost

## Old French
### Etymology 1

From Latin servus.

#### Noun

serf oblique singular, m (oblique plural sers, nominative singular sers, nominative plural serf)
* serf (semifree peasant)

##### Descendants

* Middle French: serf
** French: serf
* → English: serf

### Etymology 2

See servir

#### Verb

serf
* first-person singular present indicative of servir

## Seychellois Creole
### Etymology

From French cerf.

### Noun

serf
* deer

### References

* Danielle D’Offay et Guy Lionnet, Diksyonner Kreol - Franse / Dictionnaire Créole Seychellois - Français