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σκλάβος

slave /ˈsklavos/

nounB1#1764 most common

Also: bondsman, slave (figurative: someone in thrall to something)

Example sentences

Αυτός είναι σκλάβος.
He is a slave.
Ο σκλάβος ήταν κουρασμένος.
The slave was tired.
Στην αρχαία Ρώμη πολλοί άνθρωποι ήταν σκλάβοι.
In ancient Rome, many people were slaves.
Ο σκλάβος προσπάθησε να δραπετεύσει από τον κύριό του.
The slave tried to escape from his master.
Η ζωή ενός σκλάβου ήταν γεμάτη ταπείνωση και σκληρή δουλειά.
The life of a slave was full of humiliation and hard labor.
Μεταφορικά, λέμε ότι κάποιος είναι σκλάβος των συνηθειών του.
Metaphorically, we say that someone is a slave to his habits.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeσκλάβοςσκλάβοι
Genitiveσκλάβουσκλάβων
Accusativeσκλάβοσκλάβους
Vocativeσκλάβεσκλάβοι

Word family

σκλάβαfemale slave
σκλαβιάslavery
σκλαβώνωto enslave
σκλαβωμένοςenslaved
σκλαβοπάζαροslave market

Etymology

Σκλάβος comes from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος, meaning 'Slav'. During the early medieval period, Slavic peoples were captured and sold as slaves in large numbers, so their ethnic name shifted in meaning to 'slave'. This sense passed into Medieval Latin as sclavus and from there into most European languages, including English 'slave'. The origin of the ethnonym 'Slav' itself is debated among linguists.

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