serfdom

UK/ˈsɜːfdəm/US/ˈsɚfdəm/

nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,855 of 15,258leans written

Serfdom is a system binding peasants to the land they work. Abolish serfdom.

A serf was not owned as a slave was, but could not leave and was sold with the estate. Serfdom lasted in Russia until 1861, long after most of Europe had ended it.

Definitions of serfdom

1nounserfdomA system binding peasants to the land they work.C1
“Serfdom ended on paper long before it ended in practice.”

serfdom is a system.

Where it comes from

Serf plus -dom; serf comes from Latin servus, a slave, though the two conditions were not the same in law.

From serf + -dom.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

serfdom in the wild

Conversely, serfdom grew stronger in Central and Eastern Europe, where it had been less common (this phenomenon was known as "second serfdom").
Serfdom
In the Habsburg monarchy, serfdom was abolished by the 1781 Serfdom Patent.
Serfdom
The reform effectively abolished serfdom throughout the Russian Empire.
Emancipation reform of 1861
Emperor Alexander II abolished serfdom in the emancipation reform of 1861, a few years later than Austria and other German states.
Serfdom in Russia
In the Austrian partition, serfdom was abolished in 1848, following the revolutionary movements sweeping through Europe.
Abolition of serfdom in Poland

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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