From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpeonpe‧on /ˈpiːən/ noun [countable] American English 1 informalBEC someone who does boring or physically hard work for low pay – used humorously2 BECsomeone in Mexico or South America who works as a type of slave to pay back debts
Examples from the Corpus
peon• A coachman has to drive, a groom has to open the door, a peon has to shout warnings.• They get lifted up and all of the rest are nothing but peons!• He would have his peon drive me back to the dang.• We don't make those decisions around here - we're just peons.• One of the peons is demanding another extension of largesse.• I learnt about the exploited conditions under which the peons and gauchos had to live.• South-of-the-Border, where peons in ponchos drank flaming tequila, he wore a blinding white tropical suit.Origin peon (1600-1700) Portuguese peão and French pion, from Medieval Latin pedo; → PAWN1 