churls

Noun

churl (plural churls)

1. (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.
   • [F]rom this time forvvard I do pardon before God all the vvrongs that they haue done, or ſhall doe vnto me, vvhether they vvere, be, or ſhall be done by high or lovv perſon, rich or poore, Gentleman or Churle, vvithout excepting any ſtate or condition.1612, [Miguel de Cervantes], “Wherein is Rehearsed the Vnfortunate Aduenture Hapned to Don-Quixote, by Encountring with Certaine Yanguesian Carriers”, in Thomas Shelton, transl., The History of the...
2. (obsolete except historical) A bondman or serf.
3. (broadly, derogatory) A rough, surly, ill-bred person; a boor.
   • [A] churles curtesie rathely comes but either for gaine, or falshood.c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New...

   Synonyms:

   lout, yokel, bogan, boor, bumpkin, chawbacon, chuff, clenchpoop, clown, cornball

4. (archaic, broadly) A countryman, a peasant, a rustic.
   • And, as the mazy web she whirls, / She sees the surly village-churls, / And the red cloaks of market-girls, / Pass onward from Shalott.1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “The Lady of Shalott”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, part the second, page 11

   Synonyms:

   carl, fieldling, bucolic, clown, country cousin, countryman, harlot, hob, rube, ruricolist

5. (archaic, broadly) A person who is stingy, especially with money; a selfish miser, a niggard.
   • Juli[et]. […] VVhats heere? a cup in my true loues hand? / Poiſon I ſee hath bin his timeleſſe end: / O churle [referring to Romeo], drunke all, and left no friendly drop.c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Iuliet. […] (Second Quarto), London: […] Thomas Creede, for Cuthbert Burby, […], published 1599, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]

   Synonyms:

   carl, skinflint, cheapass, cheapie, cheapskate, cheapo, clutchfist, el cheapo, last of the big spenders, magpie

6. (broadly) A freedman, ranked below a thane but above a thrall.