/sleɪv/
OriginInherited from Middle English sclave, from Old French sclave, from Medieval Latin sclavus (“slave”), from Late Latin Sclavus (“Slav”), traditionally assumed to be because Slavs were often forced into slavery in the Middle Ages. The Latin word is from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος (Sklábos); see that entry and Slav for more. Displaced native Old English þēow. Thrall and bondsman/bondswoman, however, remain common synonyms. Doublet of ciao and Slav.
An alternative hypothesis derives sclavus from Ancient Greek σκῡλεύω (skūleúō), σκῡλάω (skūláō, “to strip or despoil a slain enemy”).
- A person who is held in servitude as the property of another person, and whose labor (and often also whose body and life) is subject to the owner's volition and control.
“Fear of their cargo bred a savage cruelty into the crew. One captain, to strike terror into the rest, killed a slave and dividing heart, liver and entrails into 300 pieces made each of the slaves eat ”
- figurativelyA drudge; one who labors or is obliged (e.g. by prior contract) to labor like a slave with limited rights, e.g. an indentured servant.
- figurativelyAn abject person.
“Art thou the ſlaue that with thy breath haſt kill'd / Mine innocent child?”
- figurativelyOne who has no power of resistance to something, one who surrenders to or is under the domination of something.
“a slave to passion, to strong drink, or to ambition”
“Slave to the rhythm! / Keep it up, keep it up! / Never stop! Never stop!”
- A submissive partner in a BDSM relationship who consensually submits to, sexually or personally, serving one or more masters or mistresses.
“In the clip the black female “slave” dons a chain around her neck for which her white mistress possesses the key. The black woman sub is further disciplined by the power of speech—the force of silence”
- A sex slave, a person who is forced against their will to perform, for another person or group, sexual acts on a regular or continuing basis.
- A device (such as a secondary flash or hard drive) that is subject to the control of another (a master).
“If you administer your own reverse DNS zones, remember to include them in your slave configuration.”
- To work as a slaver, to enslave people.
“MASSINISSA: Wilt thou be slaved?
SOPHONISBA: No, free”
“The truth is from the Zambesi to Lake Nyasa on the north and east banks of the river, there is nothing but slaving — Africans selling each other . . .”
“Despite these examples, the majority of enslaved Africans were not able to rely on rulers for help against slaving. Africans living in chiefdoms and villages ruled by allied African authorities were, ”
- intransitiveTo work hard.
“I was slaving all day over a hot stove.”
- transitiveTo place a device under the control of another.
“to slave a hard disk”
“Slaving one digital audio device to another unit using timecode alone results in time-based synchronisation[…]”
Formsslaves(plural) · slaves(present, singular, third-person) · slaving(participle, present) · slaved(participle, past) · slaved(past)