vassal (noun) –
1 : a person under the protection of a feudal lord to whom he has vowed homage and fealty : a feudal tenant
2 : one in a subservient or subordinate position
Source : Merriam -Webster
Etymology : Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Medieval Latin vassallus “serf of the manor house, household servant, lord’s man who has received a fief”. Borrowed from Gaulish wassall-, derivative of wass- “servant” (whence Medieval Latin vassus “serf, servant, holder of a fief”), going back to Celtic wosto-, whence Welsh gwas “boy, servant,” Middle Breton goas, Old Irish foss “servant, attendant”
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