kmet

See also: Kmet and kmeť

English

Etymology

From Serbo-Croatian kmȅt. Doublet of count and comes.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kmɛt/
• Rhymes: -ɛt

Noun

kmet (plural kmets or kmetovi)

1. (historical) A serf in Southeastern Europe, especially one holding land under the estate system introduced by the Ottomans and retained in some areas by Austria-Hungary.
   • 1876, Arthur John Evans, Through Bosnia and Herzegovina On Foot:

     Suffering from this double disability, social and religious, the Christian ‘kmet,’ or tiller of the soil, is worse off than many a serf in our darkest ages, and lies as completely at the mercy of the Mahometan owner of the soil as if he were a slave.

   • 1997, Michael Palairet, The Balkan Economies c. 1800-1914, Cambridge, published 2002, page 206:

     The authorities repeatedly emphasized that the kmet was not bound to his master, to counter allegations equating kmet tenure with servile status.

   • 2012, Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers, Penguin, published 2013, page 74:

     In any case, the Serbian kmets who remained within the old estate system on the eve of the First World War were not especially badly off by the standards of early twentieth-century peasant Europe […]

Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech kmet, from Proto-Slavic *kъmetь, from Latin comes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkmɛt]
• Rhymes: -ɛt

Noun

kmet m anim (female equivalent kmetice, diminutive kmetík)

1. (literary) old man

   Synonym: stařec

Declension

Declension of kmet (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	kmet	kmetové
genitive	kmeta	kmetů
dative	kmetovi, kmetu	kmetům
accusative	kmeta	kmety
vocative	kmete	kmetové
locative	kmetovi, kmetu	kmetech
instrumental	kmetem	kmety

Derived terms

nouns

• kmetíček
• kmetoušek

Further reading

• “kmet”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “kmet”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “kmet”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Old Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *kъmetь, from Latin comes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈkmɛt/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈkmɛt/

Noun

kmet m pers

1. village major, leader or judge
2. old man
3. peasant, villager

Declension

Declension of kmet (i-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	kmet	kmeti	kmetie
genitive	kmeti	kmeťú	kmetí
dative	kmeti	kmetma	kmetem
accusative	kmet, kmeti	kmeti	kmeti
vocative	kmeti	kmeti	kmetie
locative	kmeti	kmeťú	kmetech
instrumental	kmetem	kmetma	kmetmi

This table shows the most common forms around the 13th century.

later

Declension of kmet (hard o-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	kmet	kmety	kmeti, kmetové
genitive	kmeta	kmetú	kmetóv
dative	kmetu, kmetovi	kmetoma	kmetóm
accusative	kmeta	kmety	kmety
vocative	kmete	kmety	kmeti, kmetové
locative	kmetu, kmetovi	kmetú	kmetiech
instrumental	kmetem	kmetoma	kmety

This table shows the most common forms around the 13th century.

Descendants

• Czech: kmet

Further reading

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916), “kmet”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *kъmetь, from Latin comitem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kmêt/

Noun

kmȅt m anim (Cyrillic spelling кме̏т)

1. (historical) serf, peon (a working peasant on lord's estate)
2. peasant, villager
3. village major or leader

Declension

Declension of kmet

	singular	plural
nominative	kmȅt	kmètovi
genitive	kmeta	kmetova
dative	kmetu	kmetovima
accusative	kmeta	kmetove
vocative	kmete	kmetovi
locative	kmetu	kmetovima
instrumental	kmetom	kmetovima

Further reading

• “kmet”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Slovene

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *kъmetь, from Latin comes. First attested in the 16th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kmɛ́t/

Noun

kmȅt m anim

1. peasant
2. (chess) pawn

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Masculine anim., hard o-stem
nom. sing.	kmèt
gen. sing.	kméta
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	kmèt	kméta	kmétje kméti
genitive (rodȋlnik)	kméta	kmétov	kmétov
dative (dajȃlnik)	kmétu	kmétoma	kmétom
accusative (tožȋlnik)	kméta	kméta	kméte
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	kmétu	kmétih	kmétih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	kmétom	kmétoma	kméti

Further reading

• “kmet”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2026