“Slaves” is a form of
slave
/sleɪv/ noun, verb, proper noun
Also a form of slavey
Forms slaves slaving slaved
- noun 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.
- noun (figuratively) A 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.
- noun (figuratively) An abject person.
- noun (figuratively) One 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”
- noun (BDSM) A submissive partner in a BDSM relationship who consensually submits to, sexually or personally, serving one or more masters or mistresses.
- noun 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.
- noun (engineering, computing, photography) A device (such as a secondary flash or hard drive) that is subject to the control of another (a master).
- verb To work as a slaver, to enslave people.
- verb (intransitive) To work hard. “I was slaving all day over a hot stove.”
- verb (transitive) To place a device under the control of another. “to slave a hard disk”
- proper noun Synonym of Sclavia.
Synonyms
wretch thrall secondary worker Sclavia striver hard worker break one's back buckle down knuckle down
Antonyms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English sclave, from Old French esclave, 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”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun See Slav.
- noun A person who is held in bondage to another; one who is wholly subject to the will of another; one who is held as a chattel; one who has no freedom of action, but whose person and services are wholly under the control of another.
- noun One who has lost the power of resistance; one who surrenders himself to any power whatever; as, a slave to passion, to lust, to strong drink, to ambition.
- verb To drudge; to toil; to labor as a slave.
Etymology [Cf. F. esclave, D. slaaf, Dan. slave, sclave, Sw. slaf, all fr. G. sklave, MHG. also slave, from the national name of the Slavonians, or Sclavonians (in LL. Slavi or Sclavi), who were frequently made slaves by the Germans. See Slav.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “slave”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details