PEASANT


Meaning of PEASANT in English

n.

Any member of a class that tills the soil as small landowners or agricultural labourers.

The peasant economy generally has a simple technology and a division of labour by age and sex. The basic unit of production is the family or household. Peasant families traditionally consume what they produce, though a portion of their output may be sold in the market or paid to a landlord. Productivity per worker and yields per unit of land are usually low. Peasants as a class tend to disappear as a society industrializes, though peasantlike social structures may persist under new economic regimens. See also ejido ; feudalism ; hacienda ; serfdom .

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia.      Краткая энциклопедия Британика.