slave English · revision 6041

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1290|origins=la-med Sclavus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sleɪv/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English sclave, [[bor|fro|esclave]], and directly [[bor|la-med|sclavus|t=slave, captive]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) which is identical with the ethnic name [[m|la-med|Sclavus|t=a Slav]] (see [[Slav]]),^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) itself from a Late Greek name for the Slavs.^(MWU 2024) It was so used because many Slavs were taken captive and sold by their conquerors;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Hoad and NODE connect it with their subjection by conquest in the 9th century.^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) The spelling slave, without c, is from about 1385, a reduction normal in English and most Germanic languages.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person who is the property of another and wholly subject to them: about 1290 in the OED,^(OED 1989) about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As a term of contempt the word is from 1537, now archaic,^(OED 1989) and Shakespeare's age used it more lightly for a rascal or fellow.^(OED 1989) One who submits servilely to another is from 1521,^(OED 1989) one dominated by a habit or influence (''a slave to fashion'') from 1559,^(OED 1989) and one who toils like a slave from 1774.^(OED 1989) An ant captured by and made to serve ants of another species is from 1817.^(OED 1989) The verb meant to enslave (1559) before to work like a slave (1719).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[slavery|alt=Slavery]] meant hard work or drudgery in 1551 and the condition of a slave from 1577;^(Barnhart 1988) the [[slave trade]] is from 1734 and the [[slave driver]] from 1807.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Wage slaves'' is in the English translation of the ''Communist Manifesto''.^(Cresswell 2021) In engineering a slave is a device controlled by another device.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1290 – a person owned by another.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1385 – the spelling slave.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1521 – one who submits servilely.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1551 – slavery, drudgery.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1559 – the verb, to enslave.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1719 – to work like a slave.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1734 – slave trade.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1817 – a slave ant.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who is legally owned by another and has no freedom; one held in [[servitude]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person completely dominated by another person or by a habit or influence: ''a slave to fashion''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person who works extremely hard; a [[drudge]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A machine or component controlled by another.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To work very hard; to [[toil]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(rare)'' To trade in or carry slaves.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[slaveless]]

+ * [[slavelike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Slav]]

+ * [[Slavic]]

+ * [[enslave]]

+ * [[slavery]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Slave is also the name, from 1789, of a group of Athabaskan-speaking peoples of north-western Canada, said to translate a Cree word for a captive.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}