Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Peon"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Peon \Pe"on\, n.
See {Poon}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Peon \Pe"on\, n. [Sp. peon, or Pg. pe?o, one who travels on
foot, a foot soldier, a pawn in chess. See {Pawn} in chess.]
1. A foot soldier; a policeman; also, an office attendant; a
messenger. [India]
2. A day laborer; a servant; especially, in some of the
Spanish American countries, debtor held by his creditor in
a form of qualified servitude, to work out a debt.
3. (Chess) See 2d {Pawn}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Poon \Poon\, n. [Canarese ponne.]
A name for several East Indian, or their wood, used for the
masts and spars of vessels, as {Calophyllum angustifolium},
{C. inophullum}, and {Sterculia f[oe]tida}; -- called also
{peon}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
peon
n : a laborer who is obliged to do menial work [syn: {drudge}, {navvy},
{galley slave}]
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