Rumān
/rʊˈmɑːn/noun
A historical Romanian term for a peasant or serf bound to a landowner.
Did you know?In medieval Romanian, rumân underwent a striking semantic shift: from identifying a Roman or Romanian person to describing a dependent agricultural laborer.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Antiquity
Latin
Rōmānus
“Roman; belonging to Rome”
Late Latin
Latin
Rōmānus
“A Roman person or something associated with Roman identity”
Early Romanian
Romanian
rumân
“A Romanian or person belonging to the local Christian community”
Middle Ages
Romanian
rumân
“A dependent peasant, increasingly associated with a person tied to an estate”
16th–18th Century
Romanian
rumân
“A serf or legally bound agricultural laborer”
Modern English
English
rumân
“A historical Romanian term, usually explained as “serf” or “bonded peasant””