Standard Lemma guide

peon

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpiː.ən/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpeɪ.ɒn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈpi.ɑn/
  • General-American: /ˈpeɪ.ɑn/
  • /pɪˈuːn/ especially sense 3, obsolete
  • /pjuːn/ especially sense 3, obsolete
  • rhymes with -iːən
  • rhymes with -ɒn
  • rhymes with -iɑn
  • rhymes with -eɪɑn
  • homophone: paean
  • homophone: pee-on (one pronunciation)
  • CMU ARPABET: P IY1 AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A lowly person; a peasant or serf; a labourer who is obliged to do menial work.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A person of low rank or importance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A messenger, foot soldier, or native policeman.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: India, historical

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a laborer who is obliged to do menial work

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: drudge, navvy, galley slave

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: laborer, manual laborer, labourer, jack

History

Etymology

From a combination of Middle French pion, peon and Spanish peón, both from Late Latin pedōnem (“pedestrian”). Doublet of pawn.

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: كَادِح (kādiḥ) — peasant or serf
  • Chinese Mandarin: 雇農 (gùnóng) — peasant or serf
  • Chinese Mandarin: 苦工 (kǔgōng) — peasant or serf
  • Chinese Mandarin: 日工 (rìgōng) — peasant or serf
  • Czech: peón — peasant or serf
  • Dutch: arbeider — peasant or serf
  • Dutch: dagloner — peasant or serf
  • Dutch: pandeling — peasant or serf
  • Dutch: schuldslaaf — peasant or serf
  • Dutch: dwangarbeider — peasant or serf
  • Dutch: helper — peasant or serf
  • Esperanto: peono — peasant or serf
  • French: péon — peasant or serf
  • German: Peon — peasant or serf
  • German: Diener — peasant or serf
  • Hindi: चपरासी (caprāsī) — peasant or serf
  • Japanese: 農奴 (nōdo) — peasant or serf
  • Polish: wyrobnik — peasant or serf
  • Portuguese: peão — peasant or serf
  • Romanian: șerb — peasant or serf
  • Russian: батра́к (batrák) — peasant or serf
  • Russian: пео́н (peón) — peasant or serf
  • Spanish: peón — peasant or serf
  • Turkish: piyon — peasant or serf
  • Ottoman Turkish: دهقان (dihkân) — peasant or serf
  • Urdu: چپراسی (caprāsī) — peasant or serf