ˈsərf, ˈsə̄f, ˈsəif noun
( -s )
Etymology: French, from Latin servus slave, servant, serf — more at serve
1. : theow
2. : a person (as the English villein of the 12th or 13th century) belonging to any of various grades of the lower class especially in different feudal systems, bound to the soil and more or less subject to the will of the owner of the soil, and separable from the lord's land by manumission only
3. : villein 3
4. : any of various unemancipated classes of tillers of the soil (as in Germany, Poland, and Russia) especially of the 17th and 18th centuries
5. : slave