noun · academic
serf
UK/sɜːf/US/sɜːrf/
Base noun meaning a peasant tied to the land; the -dom noun 'serfdom' denotes the system where serfs are bound to a lord's land
Examples
“Serfs in medieval Europe had limited freedom and obligations to their lords.”
“Historical essays sometimes analyse how serfdom affected social mobility.”
“If asked in Task 2 about inequality, you could mention how serfdom restricted people's choices.”
Band 8 sentence
“The abolition of serfdom transformed rural economies and paved the way for labour mobility.”
Collocations
- abolish serfdom
- rise of serfdom
Word family
Common mistakes
serfdom → dịch máy thành 'serfdom' trong tiếng Việt hoặc dùng 'serf' để nói về chế độ→chế độ nông nô
Say it for a higher band
5peasant→6peasantry→7+serfdom
Synonyms
peasantry
Easily confused
peasantry
“The peasantry struggled under heavy taxes throughout the century.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In -dom
Learn it with its set