‘Term widely used in the south of the country as a synonym for small farmer. It comes from the first peasants who arrived as immigrants from Europe at the end of the nineteenth century. Each immigrant peasant received from the government an area of land corresponding to 25 hectares, which was called a "colony", for which reason its occupant came to be called colono (colonist). In the state of São Paulo, colono was a sociological designation for the social relation established in the coffee-plantations between the large owners and the immigrant peasants. The colonato was a form of partnership in which the immigrant peasant received a certain number of rows of coffee to take care of. In exchange, he received from the boss a house and the authorization to cultivate for his own use a small parcel of land’ (Fernandes, Bernardo Mançano e Stedile, João Pedro. Brava gente: a trajetória do MST e a luta pela terra no Brasil. São Paulo: Editora Fundação Perseu Abramo, p. 48, n. 23).