serf

UK: /ˈsɜː^rf/ US: /sɝf/ ,(sûrf )

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

serf /sɜrf/   n. [countable]

1. World History one who is required to provide services to a lord, usually attached to the land and transferred from one owner to another.

serf•dom /ˈsɜrfdəm/  n. [uncountable] See -serv¹-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

serf  (sûrf ), n. 

1. World History a person in a condition of servitude, required to render services to a lord, commonly attached to the lord's land and transferred with it from one owner to another.
2. World History a slave.

• Latin servus slave
• Middle French
• 1475–85

serf′dom, serf′hood, serf′age, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. vassal, villein, peasant.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

serf / sɜːf/ noun

1. (esp in medieval Europe) an unfree person, esp one bound to the land. If his lord sold the land, the serf was passed on to the new landlord

Etymology: 15th Century: from Old French, from Latin servus a slave; see serve

ˈserfdom, ˈserfhood noun