A villein who rendered menial service for his cottage; a cottier.

Smallholding cottager of lesser standing than villein but better off than cottar. (Wood, Michael. Domesday: A Search for the Roots of England, 213) Usually, in rural contexts, a relatively humble peasant occupying a cottage with little or no arable attached. (Reynolds, Susan. An Introduction to the History of English Medieval Towns, 197)

SMALLHOLDER, usually holding between five and fifteen acres in a MANOR, but sometimes identical with a COTTAGER.

See Small Holder.