/ ˈpiːən; NAmE / noun
1.
a worker on a farm in Latin America
2.
( NAmE , humorous ) a person with a hard or boring job that is not well paid and not considered important
••
WORD ORIGIN
from Portuguese peão and Spanish peón , from medieval Latin pedo , pedon- walker, foot soldier, from Latin pes , ped- foot. Compare with the noun pawn .