Information AboutPeon |
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Spanish usage In its obsolete usage in Spain itself, the word denoted a person who travelled by foot rather than on a Horse (''caballero''). It now means a Chess Pawn . In other Spanish-speaking countries, especially those in Latin America , where the Hacienda system kept labourers from leaving estates, ''peon'' has a range of meanings related to unskilled or semi-skilled Work or Manual Labour , whether referring to a low-status Wage earner in a variety of Rural and Urban industries (especially a Day Labour er or a Servant ); a Peasant ; a Bullfighter 's assistant, or, historically, someone subject to forms of Unfree Labour . English usage The English words peon and peonage were derived from the Spanish word, and have a variety of meanings related to the Spanish usages, as well as some other meanings. In the English-speaking World in general, the term is used colloquially to mean a person with little authority, often assigned unskilled or drudgerous tasks; an underling. In this sense, ''peon'' can be used in either a derogatory or self-effacing context. There are several ways in which in the word is used:
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