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.

verb (used without object)

slaved, slaving 

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, slaving 

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. to work like a slave

2. (tr) an archaic word for enslave

Other Word Forms

• slaveless adjective
• slavelike adjective
• proslave adjective
• semislave 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

It includes an image of an idyllic-looking path through bright green foliage that leads to a slave castle in Cape Coast, Ghana.

From Los Angeles Times

The point was driven home for me by a scene in Percival Everett’s timely 2024 novel “James,” a rendition of Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” told from the perspective of the title character, an escaped slave.

From Salon

"It allows them to interpret the text in the spirit of the original. Without being a slave to the adaptation, it's allowed to be free," he says.

From BBC

One witness told police that members of the homebase team were treated "like slaves", while another said they were made to sleep on a thin, old rug in the dining room.

From BBC

The labourer Jin still bristles when he remembers how the other workers would call them slaves.

From BBC

Related Words

• bond servant 
• bondslave 
• bondsman/woman www.thesaurus.com
• captive 
• chattel 
• serf