peon
1 Americannoun
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(in Spanish America) a farm worker or unskilled laborer; day laborer.
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(formerly, especially in Mexico) a person held in servitude to work off debts or other obligations.
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any person of low social status, especially one who does work regarded as menial or unskilled; drudge.
noun
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a messenger, attendant, or orderly.
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a foot soldier or police officer.
noun
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a Spanish-American farm labourer or unskilled worker
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(formerly in Spanish America) a debtor compelled to work off his debts
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any very poor person
noun
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a messenger or attendant, esp in an office
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a native policeman
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a foot soldier
Usage
What does peon mean? A peon is a person of low social status, especially one who does unskilled work and is poorly treated.Peon was once used in a more specific way to refer to farmworkers and other unskilled laborers in Mexico and parts of the United States.Example: People are going to keep quitting if management keeps treating them like peons.
Etymology
Origin of peon1
1820–30; < Spanish peón peasant, day laborer < Vulgar Latin *pedōn- (stem of *pedō ) walker (whence Medieval Latin pedōnēs infantry, Old French peon pawn 2 ), derivative of Latin ped- (stem of pēs ) foot
Origin of peon2
1600–10; < Portuguese peão, French pion foot soldier, pedestrian, day laborer. See peon 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
During the same press conference in Dhaka, she said she had taken action against a household assistant – or peon - after he allegedly amassed $34 million.
From BBC
Not afraid but brave, not weak but empowered, not peons but partners.
From Los Angeles Times
“He was the highest-paid actor in the world. I was a peon.”
From Los Angeles Times
The message couldn't be clearer: there's a strict hierarchy here, and you peons in the middle are at the absolute bottom.
From Scientific American
It's less clear whether that translates into sympathy for the peons who raided the Capitol at Trump's bidding.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
