peasant

/ˈpɛzənt/

//ˈpɛzənt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"peasant" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“peasant” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #12,653. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#12,653
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A member of the lowly social class that toils on the land, constituted by small farmers and tenants, sharecroppers, farmhands and other laborers on the land where they form the main labor force in ...

Corpus desk

Index EN-peasant · peasant · English

peasant · rank #12,653 · 10 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #12,653
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH pavilion

Nearest frequency peer: pavilion (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “peasant”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “peasant” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

peasant vs pendant
71% similar
peasant vs pennant
71% similar
peasant vs pleasant
88% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for peasant
PropertyValue
Headwordpeasant
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɛzənt/
Letters7
Frequency rank#12,653
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “peasant”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).peasantlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “pavilion” (#12,652), “paved” (#12,651), “philosophers” (#12,655). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “peasant” is #12,653. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around peasant (IPA /ˈpɛzənt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #12,653 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for peasant, with forms such as "epasant", "paesant", and "peaasnt". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "pendant", "pennant", "pleasant", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Middle English paissaunt, from Anglo-Norman paisant, from Old French païsant, païsan (“countryman, peasant”), from païs (“country”), from Latin pāgus (“countryside”) + Old French -enc (“member of”), from Frankish -inc, -ing "-ing"; which was an al… The correct English form is peasant, spelled P-E-A-S-A-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A member of the lowly social class that toils on the land, constituted by small farmers and tenants, sharecroppers, farmhands and other laborers on the land where they form the main labor force in agriculture and horticulture.
  2. 2
    A country person.
  3. 3
    An uncouth, crude or ill-bred person.
  4. 4
    A worker unit.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how peasant appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The Ambassador warned him of the consequences if his mission to Moscow were a failure, both to Churchill's position at home and to Russia's prospects in the war. He insisted that he should not allow himself to be offended 'by a peasant who didn't know any better'. Churchill listened in silence, then returned to the dacha leaving Clark Kerr outside.

Etymology

From Late Middle English paissaunt, from Anglo-Norman paisant, from Old French païsant, païsan (“countryman, peasant”), from païs (“country”), from Latin pāgus (“countryside”) + Old French -enc (“member of”), from Frankish -inc, -ing "-ing"; which was an alteration of earlier Late Latin pāgēnsis (“inhabitant of a district”). Doublet of paisano.

This word in other languages

campesino(Español)paysan(Français)Landleute(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • epasant
  • paesant
  • peaasnt
  • peasannt
  • peasantt
  • peasatn
  • peasnat
  • peassant
  • pesaant
  • ppeasant

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of peasant - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

epasant2paesant2peaasnt2peasannt1peasantt1peasatn2peasnat2peassant1
Edit distance from "peasant"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "peasant"?
"peasant" is spelled P-E-A-S-A-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɛzənt/.
What does "peasant" mean?
As a noun, "peasant" means: A member of the lowly social class that toils on the land, constituted by small farmers and tenants, sharecroppers, farmhands and other laborers on the land where they form the main labor force in ...
What words are commonly confused with "peasant"?
"peasant" is commonly confused with "pendant", "pennant", "pleasant". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "peasant"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "peasant" is /ˈpɛzənt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "peasant"?
From Late Middle English paissaunt, from Anglo-Norman paisant, from Old French païsant, païsan (“countryman, peasant”), from païs (“country”), from Latin pāgus (“countryside”) + Old French -enc (“member of”), from Frankish -inc, -ing "-ing"; which... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "peasant", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

pillars#12,656pointer#12,657ottoman#12,648Nicolas#12,646

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

presume10 variantsrebuilt10 variantsloosely10 variantsSavannah10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list