From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpeasantpeas‧ant /ˈpezənt/ noun [countable] 1 BOTAa poor farmer who owns or rents a small amount of land, either in past times or in poor countries Most villagers are peasant farmers.2 old-fashioned informalRUDE/IMPOLITE an insulting word for someone who does not behave politely in social situations or is not well educated
Examples from the Corpus
peasant• The economic crisis caused famine, epidemics, and peasant revolt.• Lords and peasants shared attitudes and beliefs.• Topics will include land problems, development projects, health and education, women's groups, peasant cooperatives and democratic congresses.• Moreover, in the absence of any evidence of impending upheaval, individual peasants were wary of risking involvement in seditious talk.• It had no fiefs to be the subject of investiture, no peasant tenure, no peasant serfs.• In response peasants cultivate bulkier but less nutritious crops, such as cassava.• Would not Gandhi come to hear their grievances? the peasant asked.• The government asked them, like the peasants, to make superhuman efforts.• Some of the wealthier peasants would probably have held some enclosed freehold fields.Origin peasant (1400-1500) Old French paisant, from païs “country”, from Latin pagus; → PAGAN2 