peon
NounWordNet 3.0
Noun (1)
- a laborer who is obliged to do menial workSynonyms: drudgenavvygalley slave
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
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] [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
3.(Chess) See 2d Pawn. [1913 Webster]
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, Calophyllum inophullum, and Sterculia f[oe]tida; -- called also peon. [1913 Webster]
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
peon
<jargon> A person with no special (root or wheel) privileges on a computer system. "I can't create an account on foovax for you; I'm only a peon there." [Jargon File]
(2001-12-23)
The Jargon File
peon n.
A person with no special (root or wheel) privileges on a computer system. “I can't create an account on foovax for you; I'm only a peon there.”