late 15c., "servant, serving-man, slave," from Old French serf "vassal, servant, slave" (12c.), from Latin servum (nominative servus) "slave" (see serve). Fallen from use in original sense by 18c. Meaning "lowest class of cultivators of the soil in continental European countries" is from 1610s. Use by modern writers with reference to medieval Europeans first recorded 1761 (contemporary Anglo-Latin records used nativus, villanus, or servus).
雙語例句
1. The serf - owners had the right to beat , abuse or even kill the serfs at will.
(那時) 農奴主 有權任意打罵甚至殺害農奴.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
2. In the Middle Ages, a lord and a serf had very different places in life.
中世紀, 農奴主和農奴在生活中是兩個截然不同的階級.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
3. This movement overthrew the serf system and freed a million serfs and slaves.
這一運動推翻了農奴制,并且解放了百萬農奴和奴隸.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
4. This decentralized economic system relied on the legal immobility of the serf.