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  1. peon love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. An unskilled laborer or farm worker of Latin America or the southwest United States.
  2. n. Such a worker bound in servitude to a landlord creditor.
  3. n. A menial worker; a drudge.
  4. n. In India and other parts of South and Southeast Asia, a person of menial position, especially a messenger, servant, or foot soldier.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A day-laborer; specifically, in Spanish America, a species of serf, compelled to work for his creditor until his debts are paid.
  2. n. In India: A foot-soldier.
  3. n. A messenger; an attendant or orderly.
  4. n. A native constable or policeman.
  5. n. In chess, a piece representing a footman; a pawn.

Wiktionary

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

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. See poon.
  2. n. India A foot soldier; a policeman; also, an office attendant; a messenger.
  3. n. A day laborer; a servant; especially, in some of the Spanish American countries, debtor held by his creditor in a form of qualified servitude, to work out a debt.
  4. n. (Chess) See 2d Pawn.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a laborer who is obliged to do menial work

Etymologies

  1. From Spanish peón. (Wiktionary)
  2. Spanish, day laborer, from Medieval Latin pedō, pedōn-, foot soldier; see pioneer. Sense 3, possibly from Portuguese peão, from Medieval Latin pedō. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “In the USA peon is a demeaning term, but not in Mexico.”

    House Progress

  • “Either the peon is different from the American, or land hunger is one thing to the one and another thing to the other.”

    The Trouble Makers of Mexico

  • “The peon is an Indian, and a Mexican Indian at that.”

    The Trouble Makers of Mexico

  • “After thus tantalizing me and taking my measure, he called a peon, whom I found to be an easy boss, and I was placed beside himself digging and shoveling, took his gait, which was much more easy than the Southern darkey.”

    The adventures of two Alabama boys,

  • “Unfortunately, some idiot schmuck McCain/Palin peon underpaid, overworked employee at the County Recorder managed to enter my address incorrectly, and now I’m supposed to show up to vote in a totally new and different location, where my registration could quite possibly be challenged because it doesn’t match my ID.”

    ALERT! Verify your voter registration status! « A Bird’s Nest

  • “Desmond fancied he saw a slight smile curl the lips of the natives; then the sentry called another peon who stood at hand, and sent him into the palace.”

    In Clive's Command A Story of the Fight for India

  • “They went out and when they entered the first shed the Spaniard called a peon and gave him an order Dick did not catch.”

    Brandon of the Engineers

  • “Although I'm cringing at the term 'peon' and wish you'd have used a different word ... maybe a more modern one ...”

    moving on down

  • “AMLO had critizised him for been a "peon" in Zedillo's government (when he was Ministry of Health).”

    La Profesora Abstraida

  • “If Dr. Harpe dubbed him her "peon," she took care to treat him and his opinions with flattering deference.”

    The Lady Doc

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synonyms (3)

Words with the same meaning

  1. policeman
  1. messenger
  1. servant

hypernyms (4)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. jack
  1. laborer
  1. labourer
  1. manual laborer

same context (7)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. gringos
  1. crofter
  1. limbless
  1. navvy
  1. shearer
  1. geisha
  1. bekk

rhymes (29)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. Achaean
  2. Aegean
  3. Boolean
  4. Caribbean
  5. Crimean
  1. Cyclopean
  2. Eritrean
  3. European
  4. Fujian
  5. Galilean
  1. Ian
  2. Jacobean
  3. Korean
  4. Maccabean
  5. Mycenaean
  1. Protean
  2. Sofian
  3. Tennessean
  4. boolean
  5. crimean
  1. cyclopean
  2. eon
  3. epicurean
  4. jacobean
  5. maccabean
  1. paean
  2. plebeian
  3. protean
  4. tennessean

reverse dictionary (7)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. peonism
  1. cailian
  1. exhorto
  1. peonage
  1. poon
  1. serf
  1. setting-hammer

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‘peon’ has been looked up 3484 times, added to 25 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 6.