serf
French, noun/sɛʁf/
serf is spelled S-E-R-F (4 letters) and appears about once in every 3 million words in written French, the 55,824th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Serf is a French masculine noun meaning “a serf (semifree peasant obliged to remain on the lord's land and to perform extensive chores for him)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Homme attachés au domaine qu’ils cultivent moyennant redevance au seigneur qui en est le propriétaire”.
What does serf mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculinea serf (semifree peasant obliged to remain on the lord's land and to perform extensive chores for him)
adjective
- 1
being or like a serf, semifree
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Homme attachés au domaine qu’ils cultivent moyennant redevance au seigneur qui en est le propriétaire.
adjective: 1. Relatif au servage.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of serf
- serfs plural
- serve feminine
- serves feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce serf?
- /sɛʁf/
- /sɛʁ/
- \sɛʁf\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to serf
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is serf in French?
serf appears about once in every 3 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).