What does peasantry mean?
Peasantry is a collective noun for peasants, especially the rural agricultural population viewed as a social class. Unlike the singular word peasant, which identifies one person, peasantry emphasizes a group and can refer to the peasant population of a country, region, or historical period. The word commonly appears in historical, political, and sociological writing, particularly when discussing land ownership, agricultural reform, rural society, or class conflict. Its modern use is often more historical than contemporary, since rural laborers and small farmers do not always identify themselves using the term. Peasantry can also have broader connotations beyond people directly engaged in farming, sometimes suggesting the rural lower classes more generally. In literary and political contexts, the word may evoke questions of inequality, tradition, modernization, and resistance to social change. It is distinct from peasant, which names an individual member of this class.
nounThe peasantry means the class of peasants, especially the rural agricultural population viewed as a social group. It is a collective noun and can refer to the peasant population of a particular country, region, or historical period.
- The class of peasants or the rural agricultural population regarded as a social group.
"The peasantry played a decisive role in the reform movements of the nineteenth century."
"The peasantry benefited from the distribution of land after the reform."
"Writers of the period often portrayed the peasantry as the foundation of rural society."
The regular plural is rare. Peasantry is normally used as a collective noun referring to a class or population, especially of a region or historical period.
"The peasantries of Europe experienced the agricultural reforms of the nineteenth century in different ways."
One word can name both a single farmer and an entire rural social class: peasant means an individual, while peasantry means the class.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of peasantry
Peasantry was formed in English from peasant with the collective suffix -ry. Peasant comes through Old French paysan from Late Latin pagensis, a term meaning an inhabitant of the countryside or rural district. The related French forms paysan and paysanne continue the same Latin tradition, while the English derivative peasantry developed the specifically collective sense.
How peasantry is actually used
Usually formal, historical, or political in register. It often carries a sociological or historical tone and may imply social class as well as an occupation.
Easily confused with peasantry
A peasant is an individual rural agricultural worker or farmer, whereas peasantry refers collectively to that social class or population.