n.1 a a Spanish American day labourer or farm-worker. b a poor or destitute South American.
2 an Indian office messenger, attendant, or orderly.
3 a bullfighter's assistant.
4 hist. a worker held in servitude in the southern US.
Derivatives:
peonage n.
Etymology: Port. peao & Sp. peon f. med.L pedo -onis walker f. L pes pedis foot: cf. PAWN(1)