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>
