| 释义 |
peon|ˈpiːən|
Also (in sense 1) 7 pion, pyone, pe-une, peun.
[In sense 1, ad. Pg. peão pedestrian, foot-soldier, day-labourer, and F. pion, foot-soldier, footman, servant on foot, whence in some E. Indian vernaculars piˈūn; in sense 2, a. Sp. peon in same senses; = OF. peon, It. pedone, med.L. pedōn-em foot-soldier, f. L. pēs, ped-em foot. A doublet of pawn n.1, OF. paon.]
1. In India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), and Malaysia:
a. A foot-soldier.
b. A native constable.
c. An attendant or orderly; a footman or messenger. Also, a person who does minor work in an office.
1609W. Finch in Purchas Pilgrims (1625) iv. iv. §3. 421 The first of February, the Captaine [Hawkins] departed with fiftie Peons, and certaine Horsemen. 1613ibid. iv. viii. §3. 484 Dispeeded one of my Pions to Lowribander with a Letter. 1632R. Cartwright in St. Papers, Col., E. Indies 290 His poor man..was met with by the Governors ‘pyones’..and clapt up in prison. 1638Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 35 With some Pe-unes (or black foot-boyes who can pratle some English) we rode to Surat. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. iii. i. i. 2 These Pions of the Custom-house [in India]. 1697W. Dampier Voy. round World (1699) 507 At this Moors Town they got a Peun to be their Guide to the Moguls nearest Camp. 1747Gentl. Mag. July 341 The whole French garrison of Pondicherry, consisting of about 1000 regular troops, 200 trained peons, and many others. 1840H. Malcom Trav. Hindustan Gloss., Peon (pronounced Pune), a Hindu constable. 1896Croker Village Tales 2 Body-servants, peons, syces, and all the barrack dhobies. 1913L. Woolf Village in Jungle vii. 211 The peon and the interpreter told Babu to hold his tongue. 1927R. J. H. Sidney In Brit. Malaya To-Day 136 Postmen, Government peons (messengers), prisoners themselves, all wear materials either made or made-up in Singapore prison. 1931Times 17 Feb. 13/5 Five postal peons [servants] were injured while on duty, and the City Post Office was closed for three days... Instead of deliveries by peons people are asked to inquire at the post office for letters. 1969[see durzee]. 1969Pioneer (Lucknow) 13 Aug. 6/2 A peon in the office of the regional transport authority in Bombay attends office in his own car daily. 1971Ceylon Observer (Mag. ed.) 19 Sept. 7/5 A peon has to come to the rescue of the official. 1972Straits Times 26 Apr. 7/6 F and N workers have been picketing the factory..in support of a claim for free shoes for three peons. 1973Archivum Linguisticum IV. 91 Peons, low-caste strangers, and their wives. 1975Bangladesh Times 23 July 1/1 Six persons including a professor, a B.Sc examinee and a college peon, were arrested by the Lalbagh police on Tuesday on charge of adopting unfair means in the examination and abetment of the crime.
2. In Spanish America: A day-labourer; in S. America, a man or boy leading a horse or mule; in Mexico, spec. a debtor held in servitude by his creditor till his debts are worked off. Also in extended use.
1826W. B. Dewees Lett. from Early Settler Texas (1852) 56 The Peons, or lower class—are a sort of slaves, who are employed by the aristocracy. 1826[see arriero]. 1828C. Brand Jrnl. Voy. Peru v. 104 The mules were straying about..and our wild, uncouth-looking peons were assembled round a fire, under the lee of a large rock. 1860Tylor Anahuac xi. (1861) 291 If a debtor owes money and cannot pay it, his creditor is allowed by law to make a slave or peon of him until the debt is liquidated. 1880C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark xxiii. 257 The mule owner brought with him a strong lad as peon, to assist in loading and unloading the beasts. 1945J. L. Marshall Santa Fe 9 In 1850 New Mexico came into the Union as a free soil territory—and went on buying and selling slaves as of old, calling them peons and peonas. 1962N. Maxwell Witch-Doctor's Apprentice vii. 81 They weren't Cotos, only a white man named Rodriguez, his partner, Juan Gómez, and five peons. 1970S. L. Barraclough in I. L. Horowitz Masses in Lat. Amer. iv. 125 On some traditional Andean haciendas, peons still kneel to kiss the corner of the ‘patron's’ poncho to show respect. 1972P. Daniel Shadow of Slavery ix. 177 In New Orleans a couple..took the peons in, gave them directions on how to proceed to..Chicago. Perhaps thirty persons excaped on this modern version of the underground railroad. 1977Time 6 June 42/2 He [sc. Elvis Presley] periodically tossed a sweat-stained scarf to the peons below.
attrib.1847W. S. Henry Campaign Sk. War with Mexico xii. 134 This ‘peone’ system is fully equal to our slavery. 1851Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. x. 76 We see the clumsy hoe in the hands of the peon serf. 1874Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 332 Peon labor was but a trifling expense to the employer.
‖3. pl. peones. = banderillero.
1932[see banderillero]. 1957A. MacNab Bulls of Iberia v. 50 Each matador's team consists of five assistants: two picadors, mounted, and three peones or capemen on foot—also called banderilleros because they plant the sticks called banderillas. 1967McCormick & Mascareñas Compl. Aficionado ii. 52 The senior matador who knows and likes this breed, has told his peones not to show a cape until he gives the signal. 1976E. P. Benson Bulls of Ronda iv. 26 Navarro's peon played the bull for a few minutes before El Zorro gave the bull to Navarro. The boy began a series of passes with his cape. |