%peon%

n. [ Sp. peon, or Pg. pe&unr_;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 ]

n. The condition of a peon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Peonage. D. Webster. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Peonies [ OE. pione, pioine, pioni, OF. pione, F. pivoine, L. paeonia, Gr. paiwni`a, fr. Pai`wn, Paia`n, the god of healing. Cf. Pæan. ] (Bot.) A plant, and its flower, of the ranunculaceous genus Pæonia. Of the four or five species, one is a shrub; the rest are perennial herbs with showy flowers, often double in cultivation. [ Written also pæony, and piony. ] [ 1913 Webster ]