Batrak is an old word familiar to many of us from books, phraseological units and even colloquial speech. Despite the fact that the use of this term in its direct meaning in everyday life has practically been reduced to nothing these days, the phenomenon of farm work is still reflected in culture and art, therefore it is familiar to everyone. It's time to figure out the meaning of this word.
Origin of the word
Many words in Russian are borrowed from other languages. This is far from happening because of the poverty of the Russian language. Russian borders are in contact with several countries inhabited by different peoples with their own culture and language. Throughout the history of the country, this arrangement has brought both negative and positive changes.
Many researchers believe that "farm laborer" is a word that came to us from the Turkic peoples. For example, in the Kazakh language there is a consonant word "batyrak", denoting a poor man who agrees to be hired for any kind of work. Most likely, the Russian language adopted this word in the 16th century, when ties increased. Russian and Kazakh peoples.
For all Turkic peoples there are common words similar in meaning and sound. Therefore, there are several more versions of the origin of the word "labor laborer". For example, from the word "batyr", which in Turkic directly means an employee. An interesting version is that a laborer is a modified word "badrak". Badraks were the privileged military class of the Crimean Tatars, whose representatives were forced to go to Ukraine in the 19th century to work.
According to another version, the word "farm laborer" came to Russia from Tatar, where there is the word "baidak", translated as "bachelor". At that time, not only an unmarried person was called single, but also a peasant who did not have his own house and farm. To earn a living, such a peasant went to hired work.
What does the word "labor" mean
A laborer is a hired worker who does not have a permanent income and is hired for a certain period or season. They have almost no valuables and property, they often do not have their own land allotments, which forces them to engage in hard and low-paid work. Most often, laborers are extremely poor people.
In Soviet times, laborers themselves were actively involved in collective farms and agitated the rural poor to follow their example. Therefore, we can say that the laborers constituted the working proletariat and ardently supported the Bolsheviks, seeing in them the authorities a chance to get land and earn a living.agricultural labor.
Currently, in its original meaning, the term is almost never used, it is found only in fiction and scientific literature. In a figurative sense, farm laborers are modern workers engaged in hard (often physical) labor for low pay.
Examples of usage
Today, farm laborers as a category of the population no longer exist. There remains a word familiar to everyone and used in a figurative sense, there are fiction books where this word is used. Farm work was widespread in tsarist Russia, so writers and historians could not ignore this phenomenon.
How did you work, spend your leisure time, how did the laborers live? The answers to these questions can be found in fiction:
Her kids will have to bend their backs along with adult laborers, no one will pardon auction children.
By the sheds and near the stables, bells were still jingling, coachmen were arguing over places for their horses, laborers, village women and peasants, gazing at the illuminated windows of the hall, where they constantly flashed silhouettes of dancers.
There are poor people in the village, and farm laborers, completely impoverished peasants, and there are rich people who keep farm laborers, and today these beggars will be given full preference.
Moreover, in the literature the word is also found in a figurative sense. For example:
The Astakhovs literally have laborers, Fedosey and Nadezhda have been working in this household for almost twenty years,they really put a lot of work into it.
Handsmen in culture
Since farm work was widespread, today many people have a surname derived from the word "farm laborer". An example is the theater and film actor Alexander Batrak.
These days, the phenomenon is reflected in movies and games. For example, in the online strategy "Age of Clones" you need to choose the right answers for laborers who have come to hired work and have a lot of questions for the employer.
