name
Meaning 1
A language spoken by the Slavey peoples.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
slavey
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/ˈsleɪvi/
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UK: /ˈsleɪvi/
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rhymes with -eɪvi
noun
Meaning 2
A male servant.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: colloquial, historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A female domestic servant; a maid or maidservant.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: colloquial, historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A member of an Athabascan First Nations people indigenous to the region near the Great Slave Lake in western Canada
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Awokanak, Deh Cho, Deh Gah Got'ine
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
a female domestic servant who does all kinds of menial work
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: skivvy
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: domestic, domestic help, house servant
History
Etymology
From French Esclave, a calque of a Cree name, as the Cree called these people (and several other traditional enemies) slaves. In English, the final e came to be pronounced as if Slave were a native name; this pronunciation was first written Slavé and later Slavey. The names of the Slave River, Lesser Slave River, Great Slave Lake and Lesser Slave Lake do not necessarily derive from the people now known as Slavey in English.
Etymology tree substrateder.? Proto-Indo-European *ḱlewH-der.? Proto-Slavic *slov- Proto-Slavic *-ǫta Proto-Slavic *Slov-? Proto-Balto-Slavic *-ēnas Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos Proto-Slavic *-inъ Proto-Slavic *-ěninъ Proto-Slavic *slověninъbor. Ancient Greek Σκλαβηνός (Sklabēnós)der. Byzantine Greek Σκλᾰ́βος (Sklắbos)bor. Late Latin Sclavus Medieval Latin sclavusbor. Old French esclavebor. Middle English sclave English slave English -y English slavey From slave + -y. Piecewise doublet of Slavic.
Across languages
Translations
2 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- French: esclave — language
- French: Esclave — member of Athabascan people