churl🔊

(feudalism, obsolete except historical) A free peasant (as opposed to a serf) of the lowest rank, below an earl and a thane; a freeman; also (more generally), a person without royal or noble status; a commoner.

(feudalism, obsolete except historical) A bondman or serf.

(by extension, derogatory) A rough, surly, ill-bred person; a boor.

(by extension, archaic) A countryman, a peasant, a rustic.

(by extension, archaic) A person who is stingy, especially with money; a selfish miser, a niggard.

(by extension, Theodism) A freedman, ranked below a thane but above a thrall.