farmer, peasant, farm

[ThomasK]

(There has been a thread on farmers, initiated by me - or my former self - but now I'd like to focus on the distinction between farmer and peasant, which was only treated alongside in the other)

I believe (a) the Latin word agricola in English could be translated as both farmer (a rich farmer, I believe) and peasant. It can also be (b) used it as a verb (to farm). Can you? Last question: there is (b) only "farm" for the place, I think. What is your word for 'farm'?

But I am not so sure that speakers of English would associate peasant with agricola. At least the connotation of the word is pejorative, whereas farmer is neutral, I suppose.

I think the French words do not have the same connotation: fermier versus paysan (though the latter may sound pejorative, I suppose). There is no 'rich' connotation with 'fermier', I suppose. Farm is of course ferme in French

In Dutch we have (a) one word, boer, and an old word hereboer (lord-farmer), now outdated, a very rich farmer. The common word boer though has (had) a pejorative ring. nowadays we often use landbouwer (a literal translation of Agricola/ agriculteur). And we can boeren, farm. The verb has even become a common word for doing (good) business. But they all live and work (c) at a boerderij [lit. farmery].

 

[Dymn]

Catalan:

A granger is somebody who owns a granja "farm" (< French grange). The term for he who works the land is pagès (< Latin pagensis, derived from pagus). Other words include camperol (< camp "field"), llaurador (< llaurar, Latin laborare). As far as I know llaurador is common in Valencia, while camperol personally reminds me of typical Vietnamese peasants with their hats.

Paisà, or especially in Spanish paisano, refers to somebody from the same town or region, no connection with peasants.

The usual word for "peasant" in Spanish is campesino. There is also payés from Catalan pagès.

 

[ThomasK]

How about the "lords" and the small farmers? I think you distinguish between owners and workers; I suppose there is nothing in-between. Or is there?

Is a campesino a small farmer, owning his/ her own place? We would have called it a koeplekke in our dialect: a cow place, meaning the farmer owned little more than some cows and some land.

 

[Circunflejo]

Some words in Spanish to start with:

• Campesino: Someone who works in the fields. It may live in the fields themselves or in nearby villages.
• Agricultor: Someone who farms (the fields).
• Labrador: Almost identical to agricultor.
  
• Terrateniente: Owner of many (and big fields) lands for cultivation.
• Latifundista: Owner of big lands for cultivation.
• Minifundista: Owner of small lands for cultivation. Not too used nowadays in daily speech.
• Mayoral: The person assigned by the owner of the land to be in charge of the team the farms the land.
• Capataz: Similar to mayoral but may be in charge too of administrative tasks.
  
• Granjero: Owner of a granja. It can be used too for someone who takes care of a granja without being the owner.
• Granja: it's a term usually associated just with the place for raising cattle and other animals like hens; not for fields where you grow, for example, potatoes.

 

[ThomasK]

Thanks for the impressive list. Then I conclude that campesino is not (never?) an owner, not is a mayoral, a capataz. But I suppose an agricultor and a labrador are not owners either.

I am beginning to think that even the concept of an 'agricola' is not really clear, or is not universal. I had associated it with work on the land and/or with cattle (breeding, …) and owning to some land: someone who works on his/ her own land (and mostly has/ breeds animals), whereas I think in your view ownership is not typical.

How about het verb and the place, farming and a farm? Is there no other word than granja? How about a potato grower? Does s/he have a typical place/ property? Here again we associate ownership with farming, I think; the work on the land is for "land workers" (landarbeiders), who do not have freedom or responsibility (no blame!). So the question arises as for me: do you have some key/iconic image of a farmer?

 

[Circunflejo]

I am beginning to think that even the concept of an 'agricola' is not really clear, or is not universal.

It's not universal. There's the word agrícola in Spanish. As a noun, it's (a rarely used nowadays) synonym of agricultor. As an adjective, it's anything related with land farming. It doesn't imply property (it doesn't exclude it either) and it doesn't refer to anything cattle related.

But I suppose an agricultor and a labrador are not owners either.

They may be owners and they may be renters.

How about het verb and the place, farming and a farm?

Regarding verbs: labrar and cultivar are the two most common. Regarding the place, finca or tierra are used althought there's a vast diversity. Campo may be used too. Huerto for the small lands where you grow tomatoes, peppers, onions… If you grow trees, the name of the tree and/or the fruit is usually used as a base: olivar, castañar, cerezal... There are too many of them.

That's just an overview sticking to the agrícola use in Spain that excludes cattle related activities (they are ganaderas) that have their own vocabulary. You may find find farms including agrícolas and ganaderas activities but they aren't as common as people and lands just for agrícola activities and other people and lands just for ganaderas activities.

 

[ThomasK]

Great information, but somehow surprising to me: I am being forced to review my view of the world! ;-)

Even a labrador (literally worker, I think) can have a farm then? With us about no worker owns his/her own workplace. (I have not found why a labrador dog is a worker, though it was used as a retriever and worked in fishing)

But then there is no specific verb for farming well for example (earning well by working [on] the land)? OUr word is really very broad, I suppose yours focuses on the work and may be used in more contexts. And so you could not simply translate "I work on a farm", could you? You'd need to know what kind of cultivation is meant, I guess. Wit us mixed farming was the main model, I think: arable land, dairy and other cattle, even poultry, etc. But that is gone as well, I am afraid.

 

[apmoy70]

In Greek farmer is:

(A) «Aγρότης, -τισσα» [aˈɣrɔ.tis] (masc.), [aˈɣrɔ.ti.sa] (fem.) < «αγρός» [aˈɣrɔs] (masc.) --> field < Classical masc. «ἀγρός» ăgrós (PIE *h₂eǵ-ro- field Old IE word, originally designating the uncultivated field cf Skt. अज्र (ájra), Lat. ager, Proto-Germanic *akraz).

(B) «Γεωργός» [ʝe.ɔrˈɣɔs] (masc. & fem.) --> land-worker < Classical masc. «γεωργός» gĕōrgós --> peasant, earthworker < Fem. «γῆ» gê + neut. «ἔργον» érgŏn.
In MoGr (A) & (B) are used equally and intercgangeably.
(B) has produced the first name for males «Γεώργιος» Gĕṓrgiŏs > George, Jorge, Giorgio, Георгий etc.

Agriculture is «γεωργία» [ʝe.ɔrˈʝi.a] (fem.) which is the feminine form of «Γεώργιος».

Peasant is «χωρικός, -κή» [xɔ.ɾiˈkɔs] (masc.), [xɔ.ɾiˈci] (fem.) < Classical adj. «χωρικός» kʰōrikós (masc. & fem.) --> rustic, rural < Classical fem. «χώρᾱ» kʰṓrā --> space, interspace, place, position, rank, location, region, estate, land, country (of unknown etymology).

The pejorative «χωριάτης, -τισσα» [xɔrˈʝa.tis] (masc.), [xɔrˈʝa.ti.sa] (fem.) is also used (from «χώρα») in the sense of bumpkin, yokel.

The great landowner is «γαιοκτήμων» [ʝe.oˈkti.mon] (masc.) a modern calque for the German Landbesitzer < Fem. «γῆ» gê + neut.«κτῆμα» ktêmă + suffix «-ων» -ōn (of masc. sing. present active participles).
Its degoratory is «τσιφλικάς» [ʦ͜i.fliˈkas] (masc.) < Turkish çiflik [ʧ͜iˈfɫikʲ] --> farm, estate.

 

[ThomasK]

Impressive answer again, Apmoy. Thanks!

Just to be sure:
- do you have a general for a farm (referring to land, cattle & ownership) and for farming? How do you refer to the Common Agricultural Policy? And how do you generally call the "beneficients", the receivers? The /agrotis/???
- does only /choriatis/ have a neg. connotation?
- do you use any of those words metaphorically?

 

[Circunflejo]

Even a labrador (literally worker, I think) can have a farm then?

Labrador, literally, a man who plows. Many times is used to refer to someone who works for other(s) or for himself on the land of other(s) (rented) but it might be used too for someone owning his own land.

But then there is no specific verb for farming well for example

No one comes to my mind but the same it's true for earning well in any other work (lawyer, trader…)

And so you could not simply translate "I work on a farm", could you?

Yes, I could: trabajo en una explotación agropecuaria. But that goes beyond agrícola to be a mix of agrícola y ganadera. There's people working in such places but there's many people working just on the fields as well as there's many people working just in cattle related activities. Something to bear in mind may be that by farm we think of a place walled or, at least, fenced. On the other hand, fields many times aren't walled or fenced… at least in my area. In Southern Spain there are cortijos (Cortijo - Wikipedia) and other similar places that may be closer to your concept of farm.

 

[ThomasK]

A labrador is a ploughman first of all, then. That seems to have been an important person in mediëval English literature…

Farming: don't worry, I don't blame you. I had just been assuming of course that things work (out) like in Dutch, and here again I come to realize that things are not as I think they are... Maybe just labouring, the hard work on the field... With us the farming has come to mean: to run a farm as such, I believe.
Farmers: it looks as if it is a term that is common in English in official texts. No equivalent? Something like agricolae?

Walled, fenced: well, in richer regions there were indeed such places (in others there were just kortwoonsten, meaning houses containing the family home on the one end, and the stables, the store above, on the other hand - in Flanders and bigger ones in Holland, or the Netherlands). I suppose those names refer to the fences, not to the function, as a matter of fact.

 

[apmoy70]

Just to be sure:
- do you have a general for a farm (referring to land, cattle & ownership) and for farming?

We don't have a generic term that covers both the farmer & the cattle owner. The former is «αγρότης» the latter is «κτηνοτρόφος» [kti.nɔˈtrɔ.fɔs] (masc. & fem.) --> stock breeder < neut. «κτῆνος» ktênŏs + verb «τρέφω» trépʰō.
Cattle ownership is «κτηνοτροφία» [kti.nɔ.trɔˈfi.a] (fem.).

How do you refer to the Common Agricultural Policy? And how do you generally call the "beneficients", the receivers? The /agrotis/???

The EU's Common Agricultural Policy is «Κοινή Αγροτική Πολιτική» [ciˈni a.ɣrɔ.tiˈci pɔ.li.tiˈci] (all feminine).
Its beneficiaries are «αγρότες και κτηνοτρόφοι» [aˈɣrɔ.tes ce kti.nɔˈtrɔ.fi] (both masc. nom. pl.).

- does only /choriatis/ have a neg. connotation?

Affirmative.

Forgot to add the verb, it's «καλλιεργώ τη γη» [ka.li.erˈɣɔ ti ʝi] --> to cultivate the earth, so the action is expressed with a periphrasis.
The verb «καλλιεργώ» is a compound: Classical neut. «κάλλος» kắllŏs + neut. «ἔργον» érgon.
So, for the ancient Greek the cultivation of the earth was a work of beauty.

 

[ThomasK]

Great additions, thanks. Did you by the way have a good who ploughed or worked on the field (earth, …)? I suppose not, but...

 

[Circunflejo]

Farmers: it looks as if it is a term that is common in English in official texts. No equivalent? Something like agricolae?

Not a single equivalent. Agricultores y ganaderos is used when texts include both people who works the fields and people who breads cattle.

I have not found why a labrador dog is a worker

I think the labrador of the labrador dog refers to the Labrador península...

Did you by the way have a good who ploughed or worked on the field (earth, …)?

The Greek Goddess of the agriculture was Demeter. No idea if she's said to work the field herself.

By the way, the patron saint of Madrid is San Isidro Labrador (often translated to English as Isidore the Farmer or the Farm labourer).

 

[KalAlbè]

Haitian Creole: kiltivatè, which you might recognize as English cultivator or French cultivateur is the standard term for farmer. More colloquially you will hear abitan, which can also take on the meaning of villager or hillbilly.

 

[Sardokan1.0]

Sardinian :

• farmer, peasant = massaju or massariu (Latin "mansiarius" or "mansionarius" = who works in a "mansio")
• farmhouse = masu (Latin "mansio")

• sheperd = pastore or berbecariu / berbegarzu / bervegarzu (Latin "vervecarius"*, from "vervex" = castrated ram -> Sardinian "berbéche, berbéghe, bervéghe = sheep)
• sherperd's hut = cubile or cuile (Latin "cubile" = place of rest)

• countryside = campagna
• arduous or wooded land = saltu (Latin "saltus" = wooded land)
• enclosed plot of land = tanca, tancadu (from the verb "tancare" = to enclose, to close)
• narrow and long plot of land = cunzadu (Latin "cuneatus" = whedge shaped)

P.S. *

Spoiler

The Latin "vervecarius" is probably at the origin of the French "Berger" = sheperd

I've thought an evolution more or less like this : Vervecarius -> vervecariu -> berbecariu -> berbegariu -> berbegaire -> berbeger -> ber(be)ger = berger

 

[ThomasK]

Very interesting contribution. I suppose in some parts of the world people refer to a farm as a fenced building, a propriety mainly. But then the massaju is the common term for a farmer/ agriculteur, isn't it? Does that person have cattle or can that be implied?

Any connotations? How about a ploughman in Sardinian?

Interesting addition about English: a farmer used to be a taxcollector, un fermier used to be a lease collector in French, and the word 'farmer' replace the older 'churl' (like peasant, 'in early Middle English, including "man of the common people," "a country man," "husbandman," "free peasant" ', according to etymonline.com) and 'husbandman'!!!

 

[Sardokan1.0]

But then the massaju is the common term for a farmer/ agriculteur, isn't it? Does that person have cattle or can that be implied?

Any connotations? How about a ploughman in Sardinian?

Yes, Massaju is the common term for farmer/ agriculteur. A person that have cattle can be generally called "pastore", but there are specific terms according to which animals he has.

• Berbecariu, Berbegarzu, Bervegarzu = sheep owner
• Crabariu, Crabarzu = goat owner (from "Craba" = goat)
  
• Baccariu, Baccarzu = cow owner (from Sardinian "bacca" = cow; Latin "vacca")

Abouth the ploughman there isn't a term. The verb to plough is "Arare", the plough is "Aradu"; so, a person that ploughs a field could be called "Aradore".

 

[apmoy70]

As a follow up post, in the modern language, there isn't a specific word for ploughman, the action is «όργωμα» [ˈɔr.ɣɔ.ma] (neut.) & the verb is «οργώνω» [ɔrˈɣɔ.nɔ] < Classical denominative verb «ὀργάω/ὀργῶ ŏrgáō (uncontracted)/ŏrgô (contracted) --> to swell with nourishing liquids and juice (of the earth and of fruits); the meaning of ploughing is very young < Classical fem. «ὀργή» ŏrgḗ --> psychical drive, propensity, character, (strong) emotion, passion, wrath (PIE *ue̯rǵ- to swell of juice, strength, anger cf Skt. ऊर्जा (ūrjā), strength, vigour).

Τhe tool (plough or plow) is «άροτρο» [ˈa.ɾɔ.trɔ] (neut.) < Classical neut. «ἄροτρον» ắrŏtrŏn -see below for its etymology.

The ancient Greeks on the other hand, had a specific name for the ploughman, he was an «ἀροτήρ» ărŏtḗr or «ἄροτος» ắrŏtŏs < Classical v. «ἀρόω» ăróō --> to plow, plant (PIE *h₂rh₃- to plow cf Lat. arāre, Ir. air < OIr. airid, Lith. arti, Proto-Slavic *orati > Rus. орать, Cz. orat, OCS орати > BCS орати/orati, Bul. ора).

Great additions, thanks. Did you by the way have a good who ploughed or worked on the field (earth, …)? I suppose not, but...

As Circunflejo has already said, the Greek goddess of the agriculture was Demeter. But it was Athena who taught men how to yoke oxen and use them for ploughing.
Thus, each city-state, had 'commissioned' special gods as patrons of ploughing within their territory.

Eg. for Athens the patron god of ploughing besides Athena of course, was Zeus who bore the epithet «Ζύγιος» Zúgiŏs i.e. of the yoke that bounds together oxen for ploughing < «ζυγός» zŭgós.

Ιn Thessaly it was Athena who bore the epithet «Βουδείᾱ» Boudeí̯ā (of the oxen, from «βοῦς» boûs).

In Boeotia she was known as «Βοαρμία» Bŏărmíā < «βοῦς» + «ἁρμός»

 

[ThomasK]

@Apmoy; great cultural background information! Thanks.

In the meantime I also discovered the words 'boor' and 'churl' in English, which have preceded the word 'farmer'. But the problem might be, as Apmoy suggests, that ploughing and ox-driving are aspects of the farm work. Farming is a complex trade…

I also thought of "beauty farms" (sun farms?) and the Dutch "krantenboer", newsmagazine seller. We can use the word in a creative way (but mainly the Dutch do). But then you need something like a key word, I suppose --- and a key concept.

 

[Circunflejo]

In the meantime I also discovered the words 'boor' and 'churl' in English

That reminds me of Spanish gañán; a word of Arab roots meaning servant working on a farm (farm not including cattle actitivies).

Talking about aspects of the farm work, we keep some specific words like segador (a man that crops).

 

[ThomasK]

@Circunflejo Thanks. I suppose those refer to servants, don't they? Our general word generally refers to ownership, however small the farm may be…

Do you ever use farming/ farm (or any related work, maybe regarding "productive", "fruitful" work) in a metaphorical sense?

In English 'boor', an old word, has a very negative connotation now. As with us, until perhaps recently: 'boers' (boorish) is uncivil, unpolite, ill-mannered… Another side-meaning...

 

[Sardokan1.0]

In English 'boor', an old word, has a very negative connotation now. As with us, until perhaps recently: 'boers' (boorish) is uncivil, unpolite, ill-mannered… Another side-meaning...

Couldn't "boor" or "boer" be related to Latin "boarius" (ox owner, or related to oxen). In ancient Rome there was an area named Forum Boarium or Bovarium where there was the cattle market.

Boarius could be translated as synonymous of "cow boy"

 

[Circunflejo]

I suppose those refer to servants, don't they?

Yes, they do.

 

[ThomasK]

French: agriculteur, fermier, paysan (but I suppose the latter can have a pejorative meaning).

Finnish: maanviljelijä, maa/ earth + viljelija/ worker, so I was told.

 

[Demiurg]

In English 'boor', an old word, has a very negative connotation now. As with us, until perhaps recently: 'boers' (boorish) is uncivil, unpolite, ill-mannered… Another side-meaning...

The German equivalent "Bauer" also has this negative side-meaning. A more neutral word is "Landwirt".

 

[ThomasK]

But "bäuerlich" is not pejorative, is it? "Boers" would be pejorative with us though. As for the precise meaning: are both mixed farmers, or mostly focusing on arable land? I thnk the term is used like in Dutch: both cattle and arable land, mostly owners…

 

[Demiurg]

But "bäuerlich" is not pejorative, is it?

No, it isn't. But there's another (pejorative) adjective: "bäurisch".

As for the precise meaning: are both mixed farmers, or mostly focusing on arable land? I thnk the term is used like in Dutch: both cattle and arable land, mostly owners…

It's the same in German.

 

[ThomasK]

The funny thing is that we need a compound in Dutch to translate 'bäurisch': boerenleven, landbouwersleven. I don't see any other solution.

 

[Heredianista]

Please refer to this other thread as well, for all questions relating to the word "campesino," which is often translated as "peasant."

Here is what I posted in that thread:

It does truly depend on the specifics of the context in question.

Campesinos are sometimes inhabitants of indigenous communities, which often consist mostly of farmers.

Sometimes, campesino can be translated simply as "small-hold farmer, subsistence farmer or rural villager." Sometimes. But even then, that's a long translation for a single word.

A few other possibilities and considerations are addressed here: A word about the word campesino.

However, even this attempt to broaden the definition of campesino falls short.

In my current document, some campesinos are wage-laborers on government-seized plantations that have been converted into [exceedingly complex] farming cooperatives. They own no land. The farm they work on is huge, and makes profits.

Other campesinos in my current document are factory workers in rural areas. (For example, ginning and baling cotton brought in from the fields.) And they are very active in campesino movements!

___________________________________________________________________________

It may also interest you all to note that the word campesino now appears in English language dictionaries:

Definition of CAMPESINO

Campesino definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

Having said that, I find the definitions provided in these entries woefully limited and limiting.

___________________________________________________________________________

My current solution is to include a Translator's Note at the beginning of my translation, saying:

The word “campesino” in this text refers to a small-hold farmer, rural wage-laborer, or member of a
low-income, rural [and often indigenous] community.

[I am open to suggestions for improvement!]

From then on out, I use the word "campesino" without italicizing it (since it is now a word in English.)

EDIT: As Circunflejo points out below, the meaning of "campesino" varies widely, depending on country and time period (among other factors).

The document I reference in this post is about land reform in Peru in the 1980s. Many words in my document have precise meanings specific to that place and time, including "campesino."

 

[Heredianista]

Thanks for the impressive list. Then I conclude that campesino is not (never?) an owner, not is a mayoral, a capataz. But I suppose an agricultor and a labrador are not owners either.

A campesino can definitely own land. Small-hold farmers are campesinos.

 

[Penyafort]

Catalan:

A granger is somebody who owns a granja "farm" (< French grange). The term for he who works the land is pagès (< Latin pagensis, derived from pagus). Other words include camperol (< camp "field"), llaurador (< llaurar, Latin laborare). As far as I know llaurador is common in Valencia, while camperol personally reminds me of typical Vietnamese peasants with their hats.

I would add the word masover, which is/was the person living and working in a mas or masia, the traditional rural family farmhouse in the Catalan/Occitan sphere. The word may not be much used these days, but the Cançó de la masovera (The masover's wife's song) is still widely known by Catalan children.

 

[ThomasK]

i have not read all of what preceded, but I understand the problem. One problem for me was that the concept "farmer" is simply not universal, whereas I thought it was, or it represents various concepts having to do with tilling the earth (if that is the right expression), attending to crops (id.), cattle management (...) AND the status of the person involved (owner, worker, ...)...

 

[symposium]

There seems to be a common thread, at least in Dutch, English and some Italian dialects: the Italian words for "farmer" are "contadino/agricoltore" and they have no connotations whatsoever; the words for "herdsman", on the other hand, seem to have a pejorative meaning: Venetian "boaro" (Italian "bovaro", from Latin "bovem", an ox) is used as a general term for unsophisticated, boorish people, just like "bifolco" or "burino", which have the same origin, in other Italian dialects. So the problem, the prejudice, seems to be not about land-workers, but about herd-people (bovari, boari, boers, boors, burini etc.)

 

[ThomasK]

Very interesting note. Yes, anything like land-bouwer, Land-Wirt, agri-coltore have no connotation. Based on our use of the word "boer" I had not suspected a link with "herdsman", but it is an interesting hypothesis. I have just checked on "boor" in English, and you're right. Would you have any idea of why the herdsmen are regarded with denigration?

 

[Awwal12]

In Russian it actually happened too; "олух" ("ólukh" - dullard) originates from "волух" ("vólukh", from "vol" - ox, i.e. a herdsman, "an ox shepherd").

That likely comes from the fact that shepherding was an easy unqualified job which was regarded as unsuitable for a normal mature man. (Of course, in mountains the situation could be very different.)

 

[Awwal12]

On a sidenote: "farm" as a form of land ownership and agricultural organization is a rather recent thing historically. In Russia, for instance, it was still non-existent in the early XX century.

 

[fdb]

Traditionally (particularly in Marxist usage) “peasant, paysan, Bauer” encompasses anyone who works a field, either his own, or rented from a landlord. “Farmer, fermier, Pächter” means someone who rents a field from a landlord. A farmer “farms” his field; a landlord “farms it out”. But in modern English usage “peasant” is used only with reference to non-Western economies, and “farmer” has become the general word for anyone who works the fields.

 

[Awwal12]

Anyway, regarding Russian:
farm (n.) - ферма (férma); a farm in any of the modern meanings - prototypically, a private agricultural land plot with living buildings on its territory, but also "a farm" as an object of more or less industrialized cattle breeding, e.g. свиноферма (svinoférma);
farmer - фермер (férmer), in the respective modern sense;
no specific verbs for "to farm" at all.

Other terms include:
крестьянин (krest'yánin) - a peasant, etymologically "a Christian" (cf. христианин - khristiánin); most of the time it's used regarding traditional peasant communities (which makes it historical in the Russian context);
земледелец (zemledélets) - a farmer, literally "an earth-doer"; a formal term for anybody who makes his living by growing plants;
скотовод (skotovód) - "a cattle-breeder" respectively;
колхозник (kolkhóznik) - a member of kolkhoz (a Soviet form of collective agricultural organisation); the word has grown a strong derogatory connotation and is used by now either historically or in a more figurative sense (as a term for post-Soviet undereducated rural simpletons and alcoholics).

 

[Olaszinhok]

крестьянин (krest'yánin) - a peasant, etymologically "a Christian" (cf. христианин - khristiánin); most of the time it's used

How about the word mužik in contemporary Russian?

 

[Awwal12]

In contemporary Russian it's usually "a man" (lowered colloquial) or "a manly man" (e.g. "настоя́щий мужи́к" - "a real muzhik"). The meaning "peasant" (as opposed to noblemen) is rather historical. Etymologically "muzhik" is "a little man" (muzh + -ik), but, of course, it ceased to be analyzed that way long ago (especially considering that "muzh" has shifted its general meaning from "a man" to "a husband").

(Russian comedians Oleynikov and Stoyanov once exploited the difference between the historical and the modern meaning in their "Gorodók" TV show.)

 

[Olaszinhok]

(e.g. "настоя́щий мужи́к" - "a real muzhik

I see, thank you.

 

[apmoy70]

Traditionally (particularly in Marxist usage) “peasant, paysan, Bauer” encompasses anyone who works a field, either his own, or rented from a landlord...

In the same context the Greek name is «κολλήγας» [kɔˈli.ɣas] (masc. nom. sing.), «κολλήγοι» [kɔˈli.ʝi] (masc. nom. pl.) < Lat. collēga.
We had a revolt in early 20th c. called "The revolt of the paysans" or "The revolt of Kileler" (the paysans revolted against the landlords, influenced by Socialist ideals, which resulted in a handful of dead, and dozens of wounded).
Kileler is a village in rural Thessaly < Ott. Turk. göleler, place of marshes.

Edit: The "formal" name of the peasant who rents from a landlord a field, is «επίμορτος» [eˈpi.mɔr.tɔs] (masc. nom. sing.), «επίμορτοι» [eˈpi.mɔr.ti] (masc. nom. pl.) < Classical preposition & prefix «ἐπί» ĕpí + Classical fem. deverbative noun «μορτή» mŏrtḗ --> piece of ground < Classical deponent v. «μείρομαι» meí̯rŏmai̯

 

[Zareza]

In Dutch we have (a) one word, boer, and an old word hereboer (lord-farmer), now outdated, a very rich farmer.

Couldn't "boor" or "boer" be related to Latin "boarius" (ox owner, or related to oxen). In ancient Rome there was an area named Forum Boarium or Bovarium where there was the cattle market.
Boarius could be translated as synonymous of "cow boy"

boor (Engl.)< mid 16th cent. (‘peasant’): from Low German būr or Dutch boer ‘farmer’

There is in Romanian an old word: boier (<Slav. boljarinŭ pl. boljare) = great landowner

boljarinŭ (pl. boljare)
From Old East Slavic бояринъ (bojarinŭ), from Old Church Slavonic болꙗринъ (boljarinŭ), from Bulgar, attested in Greek variously as βωυλε, βοιλας, βοηλας, βουληα, βοιλᾶς, βολιᾶς.

@Awwal12, could you give, please, an indication about the word boljarinŭ ?

 

[Awwal12]

Awwal12, could you give, please, an indication about the word boljarinŭ ?

That's a nobility title, apparently of Turkic (Danube Bulgar) origin (usually compared to Old Turkic "boila"); in Old Russian and Romanian it ultimately comes from Old Church Slavonic (i.e. Old Bulgarian). In Russian it also underwent a parallel contraction into "bárin" ("gentleman", "landlord", usually as a form of addressing or referencing by representatives of lower classes). Certainly unrelated to the Germanic words or Latin (taking the history, the meaning and the original form into account).

 

[Awwal12]

P.S.: It's strange that apparently no etymologist considered its origin simply from pl. "bailar", with softening of "l" after non-syllabic "i" (widespread in modern Turkic languages) and closing of "a" in the first syllable (attested, among other, in Chuvash), with further morphological adaptation in Slavic idioms (adding a plural inflexion and -in- affix in singular instead) plus dropping "i" in course of phonetic simplification typical for titles (cf. Eng. king, Rus. царь etc.). Apparently everybody was convinced in the original absence of the -lar affix in Bulgaric branch, but actually we have very little evidence for that; the changes in Chuvash well may be of later origin, considering its history.

 

[ThomasK]

To me it remains so strange that there is often no "keyword" representing landowner, cattlegrower and crop cultivator, which we assume as somehow logical. Yet, agricultural does refer to all three at once, I suppose, but I am not 100 % sure. I suppose the ownership of the land is not in any way selfevident, or implied by it, whereas it seems to me that any "boer" in Dutch has some property of land or cattle, however small it may have been.

How could one explore a (semantic/...) evolution of a concept like that? Has a topic like that been treated in books? We know about hunters and collectors turning into sedentary "boeren", but...

 

[Awwal12]

The fact is that a great deal of modern terms come from the feudal age. Most medieval peasants weren't land owners by any means, and their primary activity was growing crops in most areas (cattle breeding, as a much less efficient source of calories per square kilometer, was thriving only in very specific circumstances).

 

[ThomasK]

Had not thought of that. You might be right. But I think small-scale cattle farming has always been there, in the shape of some kind of semi-pets or something.

 

[Awwal12]

Pets in their pure form were a waste of resources (I should remind that peasants periodically suffered from starvation on a regular basis themselves). All domestic animals must have been useful: cats were fighting mice and rats, dogs were used in shepherding and/or for guarding. But, of course, peasants sought to acquire hen, pigs, cows or sheep/goats whenever possible, and bulls or horses were crucial in ploughing the land and transportation (while using human force in ploughing was not uncommon, it simply was much less effective). Nevertheless, these small amounts of animals never played a big role in the average medieval peasant community.