Have you recently faced this error while trying to deploy using API 39.0 or later? This is happening to you because <picklist> tag was deprecated in API 39.0.
Here you have how to fix it:
Object definition before API 39.0:
<fields> <fullName>Status__c</fullName> <externalId>false</externalId> <label>Status</label> <picklist> <picklistValues> <fullName>No Started</fullName> <default>false</default> </picklistValues> <picklistValues> <fullName>In Progress</fullName> <default>false</default> </picklistValues> <picklistValues> <fullName>Completed</fullName> <default>false</default> </picklistValues> <restrictedPicklist>true</restrictedPicklist> <sorted>false</sorted> </picklist> <required>false</required> <trackTrending>false</trackTrending> <type>Picklist</type> </fields>
Object definition after API 39.0:
<fields> <fullName>Status__c</fullName> <externalId>false</externalId> <label>Status</label> <required>false</required> <trackTrending>false</trackTrending> <type>Picklist</type> <valueSet> <restricted>true</restricted> <valueSetDefinition> <sorted>false</sorted> <value> <fullName>No Started</fullName> <default>false</default> <label>No Started</label> </value> <value> <fullName>In Progress</fullName> <default>false</default> <label>In Progress</label> </value> <value> <fullName>Completed</fullName> <default>false</default> <label>Completed</label> </value> </valueSetDefinition> </valueSet> </fields>