- pronunciation:
- sleIv
- parts of speech:
- noun, verb
- features:
- Word History
| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition: |
A slave is a person who is "owned" by another person. This other person captured them or paid money for them from someone else. Slaves are forced to work for no pay, and they have no freedom or rights.
The invaders captured men and women from the village and made them slaves.All of the work on the farm was done by slaves who had been purchased in an auction. |
|
|
| part of speech: |
verb |
| inflections: |
slaves, slaving, slaved |
| definition: |
When you slave, you work very hard and get little or no reward for it.
Tina's grandmother felt sad that she slaved all day to make a nice dinner for the family and nobody thanked her or showed any appreciation.- similar words:
- sweat
|
| related words: |
strain, work |
The word
slave comes from
Slav, a word for the people who lived in east-central Europe in the Middle Ages. Great numbers of Slavs were bought and sold as slaves by conquering peoples from the West.