Editing Serfdom (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Costumes of Slaves or Serfs from the Sixth to the Twelfth Centuries.png|thumb|right|upright=1.25|Costumes of slaves or serfs, from the sixth to the twelfth centuries, collected by H. de Vielcastel from original documents in European libraries]]

The word ''serf'' originated from the [[Middle French]] {{lang|frm|serf}} and was derived from the [[Latin]] {{lang|la|[[servus]]}} (slave or servant). In [[Late Antiquity]] and most of the Middle Ages, what are now called serfs were usually designated in Latin as {{lang|la|coloni}}. As slavery gradually disappeared and the legal status of {{lang|la|servi}} became nearly identical to that of the {{lang|la|coloni}}, the term changed meaning into the modern concept of "serf". The word "serf" is first recorded in English in the late 15th century, and came to its current definition in the 17th century. ''Serfdom'' was coined in 1850.{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}