slave

slave  (slv)

n.

1. One bound in servitude as the property of a person or household.

2. One who is abjectly subservient to a specified person or influence: "I was still the slave of education and prejudice" Edward Gibbon.

3. One who works extremely hard.

4. A machine or component controlled by another machine or component.

intr.v. slaved, slav·ing, slaves

1. To work very hard or doggedly; toil.

2. To trade in or transport slaves.

---

[Middle English sclave, from Old French esclave, from Medieval Latin sclvus, from Sclvus, Slav (from the widespread enslavement of captured Slavs in the early Middle Ages); see Slav.]

Word History: The derivation of the word slave encapsulates a bit of European history and explains why the two words slaves and Slavs are so similar; they are, in fact, historically identical. The word slave first appears in English around 1290, spelled sclave. The spelling is based on Old French esclave from Medieval Latin sclavus, "Slav, slave," first recorded around 800. Sclavus comes from Byzantine Greek sklabos (pronounced sklävs) "Slav," which appears around 580. Sklavos approximates the Slavs' own name for themselves, the Slovnci, surviving in English Slovene and Slovenian. The spelling of English slave, closer to its original Slavic form, first appears in English in 1538. Slavs became slaves around the beginning of the ninth century when the Holy Roman Empire tried to stabilize a German-Slav frontier. By the 12th century stabilization had given way to wars of expansion and extermination that did not end until the Poles crushed the Teutonic Knights at Grunwald in 1410.·As far as the Slavs' own self-designation goes, its meaning is, understandably, better than "slave"; it comes from the Indo-European root *kleu-, whose basic meaning is "to hear" and occurs in many derivatives meaning "renown, fame." The Slavs are thus "the famous people." Slavic names ending in -slav incorporate the same word, such as Czech Bohu-slav, "God's fame," Russian Msti-slav, "vengeful fame," and Polish Stani-slaw, "famous for withstanding (enemies)."

---

slave

Noun

1. a person legally owned by another for whom he or she has to work without freedom, pay, or rights

2. a person under the domination of another or of some habit or influence: a slave to party doctrine

3. Informal a badly-paid person doing menial tasks

Verb

[slaving, slaved]

(often foll. by away, over)to work very hard for little or no money [Medieval Latin Sclavus a Slav (the Slavonic races were frequently conquered in the Middle Ages)]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	slave - a person who is owned by someone individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do" bondsman, bondman - a male slave bondmaid, bondwoman, bondswoman - a female slave bond servant - someone bound to labor without wages puppet, tool, creature - a person who is controlled by others and is used to perform unpleasant or dishonest tasks for someone else galley slave - a slave condemned to row in a galley
	2.	slave - someone who works as hard as a slave hard worker, striver worker - a person who works at a specific occupation; "he is a good worker"
	3.	slave - someone entirely dominated by some influence or person; "a slave to fashion"; "a slave to cocaine"; "his mother was his abject slave" individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do"
Verb	1.	slave - work very hard, like a slave break one's back, buckle down, knuckle down do work, work - be employed; "Is your husband working again?"; "My wife never worked"; "Do you want to work after the age of 60?"; "She never did any work because she inherited a lot of money"; "She works as a waitress to put herself through college"

---

slave

noun 1. servant, serf, vassal, bondsman, slavey Brit. (informal) varlet (archaic) villein, bondservant

noun 2. drudge, skivvy chiefly Brit. scullion (archaic)

verb 3. toil, labour, grind (informal) drudge, sweat, graft, slog, skivvy Brit. work your fingers to the bone

Translations

slave [sleɪv] n → esclavo/a

vi (also: slave away) → trabajar como un negro;

to slave (away) at sth → trabajar como un negro en algo

---

slave [sleɪv] n → esclave m/f

vi (also: slave away) → trimer, travailler comme un forçat;

to slave (away) at sth/at doing sth → se tuer à qch/à faire qch

---

slave [sleɪv] n → Sklave m, Sklavin f

vi (also: slave away) → sich abplagen, schuften (inf);

to slave (away) at sth → sich mit etw herumschlagen

---

slave [sleɪv] n → schiavo/a

vi (also: slave away) → lavorare come uno schiavo;

to slave (away) at sth/at doing sth → ammazzarsi di fatica or sgobbare per qc/per fare qc