slave

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See also Slave

Contents

[edit] English

[edit] Alternative forms

Variant spellings[1]
α forms ([skl]-initial):
β forms ([sl]-initial):
  • (16 th-century):
  • (17 th-century):

[edit] Etymology

From Middle English <- Old French sclave <- Medieval Latin sclavus (“slave”) <- Byzantine Greek σκλάβος.

There are debates on from what the latter word derives. Some etymologists argue that the origin of σκλάβος refers to Slavs (словѣнинъ, словѣне (“Slav”)), who were often enslaved during the early Middle Ages. See Σκλάβος (Sklábos), probably from earlier Σλαβῆνος (Slabēnos), from plural Σλαβῆνοι (Slabēnoi), from Proto-Slavic *slověninŭ.

In late 9th century Europe, the status of formerly free peasants was reduced to dependent servitude and the status of slaves was slowly elevated to the same dependency, thus creating a rural society of serfs. The old Latin word for slave, servus, now came to designate a category of rural workers who were not chattel property but who were firmly bound to their lord’s land.

Pointing to similarities in usage of wealh in Old English, originally meaning “Celt” (and origin of Welsh), which was extended to “slave”, it is argued that the new word for slave, sclavus <- σκλάβος, was derived from the source of many slaves, the Slavic lands of the east.[2].

Another angle states that the word σκλάβος is a homonym of the Greek verb skyleúo, meaning «to get the spoils of war», first person singular of which is skyláo.[3]

Concerning toponyms of the type “slave”, they are very often ascribed to a presence of Slavs but sometimes this can be a para-etymology. Some linguists, for example Italian Alberto Manco, connect them to a designation of the territory relevant to a linguistic systemic stage which is prior to both the result “slave”.[4]

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

slave (plural slaves)

  1. A person who is the property of another person and whose labor and also whose life often is subject to the owner's volition.
  2. A person who is legally obliged by prior contract (oral or written) to work for another, with contractually limited rights to bargain; an indentured servant.
  3. A person who is forced against his/her will to perform, for another person or other persons, sexual acts or other personal services on a regular or continuing basis.
  4. (engineering) A device that is controlled by another device.
  5. (engineering) An information worker who has signed a non-compete clause in return for employment.

[edit] Derived terms

terms derived from slave

[edit] See also

[edit] Translations

person owned by another
person forced to work for another
person who is forced to perform sexual acts
engineering: device that is controlled by another device
engineering: information worker
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Verb

slave (third-person singular simple present slaves, present participle slaving, simple past and past participle slaved)

  1. (intransitive) To work hard.
    I was slaving all day over a hot stove.

[edit] Translations

to work hard

[edit] References

  1. ^ “slave, n.1 (and a.)” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]
  2. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica, History of Europe - Middle Ages - Growth and innovation - Demographic and agricultural growth
  3. ^ F. Kluge, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache. 2002, siehe «Sklave».
  4. ^ Alberto Manco, On the toponym Schiava ‘slave’, Indogermanische Forschungen 113/2008.

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Danish

[edit] Noun

slave c. (singular definite slaven, plural indefinite slaver)

  1. slave

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Inflection

    Inflection of slave
common gender Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative, dative and accusative slave slaven slaver slaverne
genitive slaves slavens slavers slavernes

[edit] Verb

slave (imperative slav, infinitive at slave, present tense slaver, past tense slavede, past participle har slavet)

  1. slave

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] French

[edit] Etymology

In Middle French Sclave ("Slav"), from Medieval Latin sclavus or Sclavus, from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος (Sklábos)

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /slav/
  • Audio (France, Paris)
    		(file)

[edit] Adjective

slave (epicene, plural slaves)

  1. Slav, Slavic
    Les langues slaves.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Noun

slave m. (usually uncountable)

  1. Slavic language
    Avant le IXe siècle, on présume que les Slaves partageaient tous une langue à peu près identique appelée le slave commun, mais aucun écrit avant 860 ne peut le prouver.

[edit] References

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Italian

[edit] Adjective

slave f.

  1. Plural form of slavo.

[edit] Noun

slave f.

  1. Plural form of slavo.

[edit] Anagrams

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