peasant vs cotter

peasant and cotter both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
peasant	Yes	No	No	No
cotter	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, cotter is a hyponym of peasant; that is, cotter is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than peasant:

Other hyponyms of peasant include cottar, moujik, mujik, muzhik, muzjik.

peasant (noun)	cotter (noun)
a country person	fastener consisting of a wedge or pin inserted through a slot to hold two other pieces together
a crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement	a medieval English villein
one of a (chiefly European) class of agricultural laborers	a peasant farmer in the Scottish Highlands