means A peasant in a feudal society who was legally bound to the land they worked and obligated to serve the lord who owned it.

from From Old French 'serf,' straight from Latin 'servus,' meaning 'slave' or 'servant' — the same root that gives us 'servile,' 'service,' and 'servant.' The Latin word's deeper origins are murky, possibly tied to an Etruscan source. Notably, 'serf' and 'slave' diverged in meaning: a serf was tied to the land rather than wholly owned as property, though for the person bent over the furrows the distinction may have felt thin.