slave

[ sleyv ]

noun

1. a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another and forced to provide unpaid labor.
2. a person entirely under the domination of some influence or person:

   She was a slave to her own ambition.

3. a drudge:

   a housekeeping slave.

4. a slave ant.
5. Photography. a subsidiary flash lamp actuated through its photoelectric cell when the principal flash lamp is discharged.
6. Machinery, Computers. a device or process under control of or repeating the actions of a similar device or process. Compare master ( def 21 ).

verb (used without object)

, slaved, slav·ing.

1. to work like a slave; drudge.

   Synonyms: grind, slog, labor, toil

2. to engage in the slave trade; procure, transport, or sell slaves.

verb (used with object)

, slaved, slav·ing.

1. Machinery, Computers. to connect (a device) to a master as its slave.
2. Archaic. to enslave.

slave

/ sleɪv /

noun

1. a person legally owned by another and having no freedom of action or right to property
2. a person who is forced to work for another against his will
3. a person under the domination of another person or some habit or influence

   a slave to television

4. a person who works in harsh conditions for low pay
5. 1. a device that is controlled by or that duplicates the action of another similar device (the master device)
   2. ( as modifier )

      slave cylinder

verb

1. introften foll byaway to work like a slave
2. tr an archaic word for enslave

Other Words From

• slaveless adjective
• slavelike adjective
• pro·slave adjective
• semi·slave noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of slave¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English sclave (also slave ), from Old French escla(i)ve, and Medieval Latin sclāvus (masculine), sclāva (feminine) “slave,” special use of Sclāvus “Slavic, a Slav, slave” (Latin does not tolerate the consonant cluster sl- and employs the cluster scl- instead); so called because Slavs in Central Europe and the Balkans were commonly enslaved in the early Middle Ages; Slav

Word History and Origins

Origin of slave¹

C13: via Old French from Medieval Latin Sclāvus a Slav, one held in bondage (from the fact that the Slavonic races were frequently conquered in the Middle Ages), from Late Greek Sklabos a Slav

Example Sentences

However, Bibbiani and Maher noted that Denzel Washington is particularly good as Machiavellian former slave, Macrinus, who now profits off gladiators.

From BBC

Maher said the film "only ignites when Denzel Washington’s brilliant, bisexual slave manager is on screen," he said.

From BBC

By the 1830s, elected officials such as James Henry Hammond could claim in the halls of Congress that American slavery retained the “advantages” of “the aristocracy of the old world,” adding that “slavery does indeed create an aristocracy — an aristocracy of talents, of virtue, of generosity and courage. In a slave country, every freeman is an aristocrat.”

From Salon

The concept of “social death” comes from Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson, who developed the term some 40 years ago when analyzing commonalities among various slave societies around the world.

From Salon

Chapter 8 explores Jacobs' narrative "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" alongside Harper’s letters, poetry and speeches as among the most trenchant and still underexplored philosophical commentaries on how the United States might redress the systemic wrongs that conditioned the ideology of racial feudalism.

From Salon

Related Words

• toil
• work