15 March 2016
peon(1)
[pee-uh n, pee-on]
noun
1. (in Spanish America) a farm worker or unskilled laborer; day laborer.
2. (formerly, especially in Mexico) a person held in servitude to work off debts or other obligations.
3. any person of low social status, especially one who does work regarded as menial or unskilled; drudge.
Origin of peon(1)
Spanish,Medieval Latin, Old French, Latin
1820-1830; < Spanish peón peasant, day laborer < Vulgar Latin *pedōn- (stem of *pedō) walker (whence Medieval Latin pedōnēs infantry, Old French peon pawn2), derivative of Latin ped- (stem of pēs) foot
Can be confused
paean, paeon, peon.
peon(2)
[pee-uh n, pee-on]
noun, (in India and Sri Lanka)
1. a messenger, attendant, or orderly.
2. a foot soldier or police officer.
Origin
1600-10; < Portuguese peão, French pion foot soldier, pedestrian, day laborer. See peon(1)
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for peon
Historical Examples
It is the staff of life of the Mexican peon, and the making of tortillas is the chief vocation in life of his wife and daughters.
On the Mexican Highlands
William Seymour Edwards
A boat had been lowered, and was towing astern—for what purpose the peon did not know.
The Call Of The South
Louis Becke
To the first worldly shelter you sought—the peon ‘s hut or the Alcalde’s casa—you would have thought it necessary to bring a story.
The Crusade of the Excelsior
Bret Harte
Anagram
nope
open
Today’s quote
There is not a monster more dangerous than lack of compassion.
– Master Splinter, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
On this day
15 March 44BC – Roman dictator and self-declared Emperor of Rome, Julius Caesar, stabbed to death on the Ides of March by Marcus Junus Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus and other Roman senators. Julius Caesar’s assassination was one of the events that marked the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.
15 March 270 – birth of St Nikolaos of Myra. Greek bishop of Myra (in what is now Turkey). He would often secretly leave gifts for people. The most famous story of his gift-giving related to a father who couldn’t afford the dowry for his three daughters, which would mean they’d remain unmarried. Legend has it that St Nikolaos secretly threw three bags of gold coins through the window one night so that there would be enough dowry for each. He became the model on which Santa Claus was based. Died 6 December 343.
15 March 1892 – founding of the English football club, Liverpool F.C.
15 March 1916 – President Woodrow Wilson sends thousands of troops into Mexico to capture the Mexican revolutionary, Pancho Villa.
15 March 1985 – the first internet domain name is registered, Symbolics.com.
15 March 1990 – Mikael Gorbachev elected as first president of the Soviet Union and held the office until 25 December 1991. He was the only person to occupy the office. He resigned as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on 24 August 1991 following a coup by hard-line members of the CPSU. During the coup, Gorbachev’s Presidency was briefly usurped from 19 August to 21 August 1991 by the Vice-President, Gennady Yanayev. On 8 December 1991, in a legally questionable move, the Soviet Union was dissolved with the agreement of Boris Yeltsin, Leonid Kravchuk and Stanislav Shushkevich, respective leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, creating the Commonwealth of Independent States (or Russian Commonwealth), whose leaders governed their own states.
