Dictionary
Find
in
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Translations

Click to move up the list of words
penthouse
pentimento
Pentland Firth
pentlandite
pentobarbital sodium
pentobarbitone sodium
pentode
pentosan
pentose
pentose phosphate pathway
pentoxide
pentstemon
pentyl
pentyl acetate
pentylenetetrazol
penuche
penuchle
Click to move down the list of words
Also available:

World English Dictionary
Dictionnaire Français

peon

pe·on [ p òn, p ən ] (plural pe·ons)


noun 
Definition:
 
1. drudge: somebody who does boring menial tasks ( informal )

2. Hispanic laborer: in Latin America and the southern United States, especially formerly, a farm laborer who was forced to work for a creditor until a debt was paid off

3. South Asia low-paid worker: formerly, in India and Sri Lanka, a low-paid office worker, soldier, or public servant

[Early 17th century. Via Spanish peón, Portuguese peão "foot soldier" < medieval Latin pedon-< Latin ped- "foot"]
Advertisement

© 2009 Microsoft