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Noun: cotter  kó-tu(r)
  1. A medieval English villein
    "The cotter worked the lord's land in exchange for a small plot of his own";
    - cottier [archaic]
     
  2. A peasant farmer in the Scottish Highlands
    "The cotter tended his small plot of land on the laird's estate";
    - cottar
     
  3. Fastener consisting of a wedge or pin inserted through a slot to hold two other pieces together
    "The mechanic secured the axle with a cotter pin";
    - cottar

Derived forms: cotters

Type of: bucolic, fastener, fastening, fixing, helot, holdfast, peasant, provincial, serf, villein

Encyclopedia: Cotter, Joseph