A serf was a person in the past, especially in medieval Europe, who lived on a lord's land, farmed it, and could not simply leave. The land was not theirs.

A serf was a person in the pastserf是以前的一種人 especially in medieval Europe尤其是在中世紀歐洲 who lived on a lord's land, farmed it住在領主的土地上，替他耕種 and could not simply leave而且不能說走就走 The land was not theirs那塊地不是他們的

This is close to slavery, and history books sometimes let the two sit side by side, but though actually many writers draw a line: a slave could often be sold as a person, moved anywhere; a serf was tied to that piece of land, went with it if the land changed hands, and might keep a few customary rights even while they had to obey. The life was still unfree and often hard.

This is close to slavery這跟奴隸制很接近 and history books sometimes let the two sit side by side歷史書有時候會把兩者放在一起講 but though actually many writers draw a line但其實很多學者會畫出一條界線 a slave could often be sold as a person, moved anywhere奴隸常常可以被當作一個人賣掉，被帶到任何地方 a serf was tied to that piece of land而serf是被綁在那塊土地上的 went with it if the land changed hands土地換主人的時候，人也會跟著換 and might keep a few customary rights even while they had to obey而且即使得聽命於人，也可能還保有一些習俗上的權利 The life was still unfree and often hard這樣的生活還是不自由，而且常常很辛苦

It was a class, not a job — whole families were serfs. You meet the word in history class far more than in daily talk, unless someone is using a sharp metaphor (wage serfs) to say workers are trapped.

It was a class, not a job這是一個階級，不是一份工作 whole families were serfs整個家族都是serf You meet the word in history class far more than in daily talk你在歷史課上遇到這個字，遠比在日常對話裡多 unless someone is using a sharp metaphor (wage serfs)除非有人用尖銳的比喻，像是wage serfs（薪水的奴隸） to say workers are trapped來說勞工被困住了

The Latin source, servus, meant slave, serf, or servant; English later split those ideas into different words, but the old closeness is still sitting underneath.

The Latin source, servus, meant slave, serf, or servant拉丁文字源servus的意思包含奴隸、serf，或僕人 English later split those ideas into different words英文後來把這些概念拆成不同的字 but the old closeness is still sitting underneath但這種古老的親緣關係還是藏在底下