Peasantries

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A collection of various rural customs and practices associated with agricultural workers
2. the social activities and interactions typical among peasant populations
3. small or trivial matters reflecting the lifestyle and concerns of the rural class

Etymology: "Peasantries" is the plural of "peasantry," and it is worth noticing that the plural exists at all. "Peasantry" is a collective noun for the whole class of rural working people, so pluralizing it lets writers speak of several distinct peasant populations, each with its own customs and ways of living together. "Peasantry" is formed from "peasant" plus the suffix "-ry," which in English turns a noun into a word for a condition, a group, or a collective body, as in "yeomanry" or "gentry." "Peasant" entered English in the Middle Ages from Old French "paysant," a word meaning someone from the countryside, and it came from "pais," meaning country or district. The original sense was simply a rural dweller, with no sense of low status attached.

Synonyms: rural life, agriculture