Online Etymology Dictionary

slave (v.): c.1600, "to enslave," from slave (n.). The meaning "work like a slave" is first recorded 1719.
Slave: Indian tribe of northwestern Canada, 1789, from slave, translating Cree (Algonquian) awahkan "captive, slave."
slave (n.): c.1290, "person who is the property of another," from O.Fr. esclave, from M.L. Sclavus "slave" (cf. It. schiavo, Fr. esclave, Sp. esclavo), originally "Slav" (see Slav), so called because of the many Slavs sold into slavery by conquering peoples.
"This sense development arose in the consequence of the wars waged by Otto the Great and his successors against the Slavs, a great number of whom they took captive and sold into slavery." [Klein]
O.E. Wealh "Briton" also began to be used in the sense of "serf, slave" c.850; and Skt. dasa-, which can mean "slave," is apparently connected to dasyu- "pre-Aryan inhabitant of India." More common O.E. words for slave were þeow (related to þeowian "to serve") and þræl (see thrall). The Slavic words for "slave" (Rus. rab, Serbo-Croatian rob, O.C.S. rabu) are from O.Slav. *orbu, from the PIE base *orbh- (also source of orphan) the ground sense of which seems to be "thing that changes allegiance" (in the case of the slave, from himself to his master). The Slavic word is also the source of robot. Applied to devices from 1904, especially those which are controlled by others (cf. slave jib in sailing, similarly of locomotives, flash bulbs, amplifiers). Slavery is from 1551; slavish is attested from 1565; in the sense of "servilely imitative" it is from 1753. slave-driver is attested from 1807. In U.S. history, slavocracy "the political dominance of slave-owners" is attested from 1840.
ciao: 1929, dial. variant of It. schiavo "(your obedient) servant," lit. "slave," from M.L. sclavus "slave."
servile: 1382, from L. servilis "of a slave, servile," from servus "slave" (see serve). Earliest sense was legal, servile work being forbidden on the Sabbath; sense of "cringing, fawning" first recorded 1605.
servant: early 13c., from O.Fr., noun use of servant "serving, waiting," prp. of servir "to attend, wait upon" (see serve). Meaning "professed lover, one devoted to the service of a lady" is from mid-14c. In N.American colonies and U.S., the usual designation for "slave" 17c.-18c. (in 14c.-15c. and later in Biblical translations the word often was used to render L. servus, Gk. doulos "slave"). Public servant is attested from 1670s.
concierge: 1646, from Fr., probably from V.L. *conservius, from L. conservus "fellow slave," from com- "with" + servius "slave."
enslave: 1640s, from en- "make, put in" + slave (see slave). Related: Enslaved; enslaving.
serf: late 15c., "slave," from M.Fr. serf, from L. servum (nom. servus) "slave" (see serve). Fallen from use in original sense by 18c. Meaning "lowest class of cultivators of the soil in continental European countries" is from 1610s. Use by modern writers with reference to medieval Europeans first recorded 1761 (contemporary Anglo-L. records used nativus, villanus or servus). Serfdom first attested 1850.
thrall: O.E. þræl "bondman, serf, slave," from O.N. þræll "slave, servant," probably from P.Gmc. *thrakhilaz, lit. "runner," from root *threh- "to run" (cf. O.H.G. dregil "servant," prop. "runner;" O.E. þrægan, Goth. þragjan "to run").
middle passage: 1788, in reference to the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
serve: late 12c., "to render habitual obedience to," from O.Fr. servir "to serve," from L. servire "to serve," originally "be a slave," related to servus "slave," perhaps from an Etruscan word (cf. Etruscan proper names Servi, Serve). Meaning "to attend to (a customer)" is first recorded mid-14c.; that of "to set food on (a table)" is from late 14c. Sporting sense, in tennis, badminton, etc., first recorded 1585; the noun in this sense is from 1680s. To serve (someone) right "to treat as he deserves" is recorded from 1580s. To serve the time "shape one's views to what is in favor" is from 1550s, translating L. tempori servire; time-server first recorded 1580s.
robot: 1923, from Eng. translation of 1920 play "R.U.R." ("Rossum's Universal Robots"), by Karel Capek (1890-1938), from Czech robotnik "slave," from robota "forced labor, drudgery," from robotiti "to work, drudge," from an Old Czech source akin to Old Church Slavonic rabota "servitude," from rabu "slave" (see orphan), from a Slavic stem related to Ger. Arbeit "work" (O.H.G. arabeit). According to Rawson the word was popularized by Karel Capek's play, "but was coined by his brother Josef (the two often collaborated), who used it initially in a short story." Robotics coined 1941 in a science fiction context by Isaac Asimov, who proposed the "Three Laws of Robotics" in 1968.
Slav: late 14c., Sclave, from M.L. Sclavus (c.800), from Byzantine Gk. Sklabos (c.580), from O.Slav. Sloveninu "a Slav," probably related to slovo "word, speech," which suggests the name originally meant member of a speech community (cf. O.C.S. Nemici "Germans," related to nemu "dumb;" and cf. O.E. þeode, which meant both "race" and "language"). Identical with the -slav in personal names (e.g. Rus. Miroslav, lit. "peaceful fame;" Mstislav, lit. "vengeful fame;" Jaroslav, lit. "famed for fury;" Czech Bohuslav, lit. "God's glory;" and cf. Wenceslas). Spelled Slave c.1788-1866, influenced by Fr. and Ger. Slave. Adj. Slavic is attested from 1813; earlier Slavonic (1640s), from Slavonia, a region of Croatia.
axolotl: 1786, genus of Mexican salamanders, from Sp., from Nahuatl, from atl "water" + xolotl "slippery or wrinkled one, servant, slave" [cf. Frances Karttunen, "An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl"].
bozo: "muscular low-I.Q. male," c.1910, perhaps from Sp. bozal, used in the slave trade and also to mean "one who speaks Spanish poorly." Bozo the clown was created 1940 at Capitol Records as the voice in a series of story-telling records for children ["Wall Street Journal," Oct. 31, 1983].
black code: local or state legal restrictions on black people, free or slave; attested by 1840, Amer.Eng., though the thing itself is much older; from black + code.
vernacular: c.1600, "native to a country," from L. vernaculus "domestic, native," from verna "home-born slave, native," a word of Etruscan origin. Used in English in the sense of Latin vernacula vocabula, in reference to language.
auntie: 1792, also aunty, familiar dim. form of aunt (q.v.). As a form of kindly address to an older woman to whom one is not related, attested from 1835, originally in southern U.S., of elderly slave women.
"The negro no longer submits with grace to be called 'uncle' or 'auntie' as of yore." ["Harper's Magazine," October 1883]
bondman: mid-13c., "husband, husbandman," from M.E. bond (see bondage) + man. Later, "man in bondage, slave" (mid-14c.).
freedman: "manumitted slave," c.1600, from pp. of free + man. Also cf. freeman.
Mameluke: 1511, Egyptian dynasty 1254-1517, originally a military unit comprised of Caucasian slaves, from Arabic mamluk "purchased slave," lit. "possessed," from pp. of malaka "he possessed" (cf. Arabic malik, Heb. melekh "king").
servitude: 1471, "condition of being enslaved," from M.Fr. servitude, from L.L. servitudo "slavery," from L. servus "a slave" (see serve).
Mason-Dixon Line: 1779, named for Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, Eng. astronomers who surveyed (1763-7) the disputed boundary between the colonial holdings of the Penns and the Calverts. It became the technical boundary between "free" and "slave" states after 1804, when the last Northern state (New Jersey) passed its abolition act. As the line between "the North" and "the South" in U.S. culture, it is attested from 1834.
galoot: "awkward or boorish man," 1812, nautical, "raw recruit, green hand," originally a sailor's contemptuous word for soldiers or marines, of uncertain origin. "Dictionary of American Slang" proposes galut, Sierra Leone creole form of Sp. galeoto "galley slave." Perhaps rather Du. slang kloot "testicle," klootzak "scrotum," used figuratively as an insult.
abolition: 1520s, from Fr. abolition, from L. abolitionem (nom. abolitio) "abolition," from abolitus, pp. of abolere (see abolish). Specific application to "opposition to the black slave trade as a political question" is first attested 1788.
esne: O.E. esne "domestic slave," from P.Gmc. *asnjoz- "harvestman" (cf. Goth. asneis), from *asanoz- "harvest."
odalisque: 1680s, "female slave in a harem," from Fr. odalisque (1664), from Turk. odaliq "maidservant," from odah "room in a harem," lit. "chamber, hall" + -liq, suffix expressing function. In Fr., the suffix was confused with Gk. -isk(os) "of the nature of, belonging to."
maroon (v.): "put ashore on a desolate island or coast," 1724 (implied in marooning), from maron (n.) "fugitive black slave in the jungles of W.Indies and Dutch Guyana" (1620s), from Fr. marron, said to be a corruption of Sp. cimmaron "wild, untamed," from O.Sp. cimarra "thicket," probably from cima "summit, top" (from L. cyma "sprout"), with a notion of living wild in the mountains. Related: Marooned.
manumission: early 15c., from L. manumissionem (nom. manumissio) "freeing of a slave," noun of action from manumittere "to set free," from manu mittere "release from control," from manu, abl. of manus "power of a master," lit. "hand" (see manual) + mittere "let go, release."
libertine: late 14c., "an emancipated slave," from L. libertinus "member of a class of freedmen," from libertus "one's freedmen," from liber "free" (see liberal). Sense of "freethinker" is first recorded 1560s, from Fr. libertin (1540s) originally the name given to certain Protestant sects in France and the Low Countries. Meaning "dissolute or licentious person" first recorded 1590s; the darkening of meaning being perhaps due to misunderstanding of L. libertinus in Acts vi.9.
dozen: c.1300, from O.Fr. dozeine "a dozen," from douze "twelve," from L. duodecim from duo "two" + decem "ten" (see ten). The O.Fr. fem. suffix -aine is characteristically added to cardinals to form collectives in a precise sense ("exactly 12," not "about 12"). The dozens "invective contest" (1928) originated in slave culture, the custom probably African, the word probably from bulldoze (q.v.) in its original sense of "a whipping, a thrashing."
pedagogue: late 14c., "schoolmaster, teacher," from O.Fr. pedagogue "teacher of children," from L. paedagogus "slave who escorted children to school and generally supervised them," later "a teacher," from Gk. paidagogos, from pais (gen. paidos) "child" (see pedo-) + agogos "leader," from agein "to lead" (see act). Hostile implications in the word are at least from the time of Pepys.
bondage: c.1300, "condition of a serf or slave," from Anglo-L. bondagium, from M.E. bond "a serf, tenant farmer," from O.E. bonda "householder," from O.N. boandi "free-born farmer," lit. prp. of boa "dwell, prepare, inhabit," from PIE *bhow-, from base *bheue- "to be, exist, dwell" (see be). Meaning in English changed by influence of bond. The sexual sado-masochism sense is recorded by 1966.
boss (1): "overseer," 1640s, Amer.Eng., from Du. baas "a master," M.Du. baes, of obscure origin. If original sense was "uncle," perhaps it is related to O.H.G. basa "aunt," but some sources discount this theory. The Du. form baas is attested in English from 1620s as the standard title of a Dutch ship's captain. The word's popularity in U.S. may reflect egalitarian avoidance of master as well as the need to distinguish slave from free labor. The verb is from 1856. The slang adjective meaning "excellent" is recorded in 1880s, revived, apparently independently, in teen and jazz slang in 1950s.
capable: 1561, from L.L. capabilis "receptive," used by theologians, from L. capax "able to hold much," adj. form of capere "to take, grasp, lay hold, catch, undertake, be large enough for, comprehend," from PIE *kap- "to grasp" (cf. Skt. kapati "two handfuls," Gk. kaptein "to swallow, gulp down," Lett. kampiu "seize," O.Ir. cacht "servant-girl," lit. "captive," Welsh caeth "captive, slave," Goth. haban "have, hold," O.E. hæft "handle," habban "to have, hold;" see have).
servo: 1910, from servo-motor (1889), from Fr. servo-moteur (1873), ult. from L. servus "slave" (see serve) + motor "mover" (see motor).
maiden: O.E. mæden, mægden, dim. of mægð, mægeð "maid," from P.Gmc. *magadinom "young womanhood, sexually inexperienced female" (cf. O.S. magath, O.Fris. maged, O.H.G. magad, Ger. Magd "maid, maidservant," Ger. Mädchen "girl, maid," from Mägdchen "little maid"), fem. variant of PIE base *maghu- "youngster of either sex, unmarried person" (cf. O.E. magu "child, son," Avestan magava- "unmarried," O.Ir. maug "slave"). Figurative sense of "new fresh, first" (cf. maiden voyage) first recorded 1550s.
service (n.): c.1100, "celebration of public worship," from O.Fr. servise, from L. servitium "slavery, servitude," from servus "slave" (see serve). Meaning "act of serving" is attested from 1230. Sense of "duty of a military man" first recorded 1580s, hence "the military as an occupation" (1706). Meaning "the furniture of the table" (tea service, etc.) is from mid-15c. Serving "a helping of food" is from 1769. Serviceable "ready to serve" is from early 14c.
Edgar: I know thee well: a serviceable villain,
As duteous to the vices of thy mistress
As badness would desire.
"King Lear," Act IV, Scene vi
deva: "god, good spirit" in Hindu religion, from Skt. deva "a god," originally "a shining one," from *div- "to shine," thus cognate with Gk. dios "divine" and Zeus, and L. deus "god" (O.Latin deivos); see Zeus. Fem. form devi is used for "goddess," also (with capital D-) for the mother goddess in Hinduism. Hence, also, devadasi "temple dancing girl," lit. "female servant of a god," from dasi "slave girl." Also Devanagari, the formal alphabet of Skt. writings, perhaps originally "divine city script," from nagara "city."
broad: O.E. brad "broad, flat, open, extended," from P.Gmc. *braithaz (cf. O.Fris. bred, O.N. breiðr, Du. breed, Ger. breit, Goth. brouþs), of unknown origin. Not found outside Germanic languages. No clear distinction in sense from wide. Slang extension to meaning "woman" (1911) may be suggestive of broad hips, but it also may trace to Amer.Eng. abroadwife, for a woman away from her husband, often a slave. Earliest use suggests immorality or coarse, low-class women. Because of this negative association, and the rise of women's athletics, the track and field broad jump was changed to the long jump c.1967. Related: Broadly.
wreak: O.E. wrecan "avenge," originally "to drive, drive out, punish" (class V strong verb; past tense wræc, pp. wrecen), from P.Gmc. *wrekanan (cf. O.S. wrekan, O.N. reka, O.Fris. wreka, M.Du. wreken "to drive, push, compel, pursue, throw," O.H.G. rehhan, Ger. rächen "to avenge," Goth. wrikan "to persecute"), from PIE base *werg- "to work, to do" (cf. Lith. vergas "distress," vergas "slave," O.C.S. vragu "enemy," L. urgere; see urge (v.)). Meaning "inflict or take vengeance," with on, is recorded from c.1489; that of "inflict or cause (damage or destruction)" is attested from 1817.
boy: mid-12c., boie "servant, commoner, knave, boy," possibly from O.Fr. embuie "one fettered," from V.L. *imboiare, from L. boia "leg iron, yoke, leather collar," from Gk. boeiai dorai "ox hides." But it also appears to be identical with E.Fris. boi "young gentleman," and perhaps with Du. boef "knave," from M.Du. boeve, perhaps from M.L.G. buobe. This suggests a gradational relationship to babe. Used slightingly of young men in M.E.; meaning "male negro slave or Asian personal servant of any age" attested from c.1600. (Words for "boy" double as "servant, attendant" across the I.E. map -- e.g. It. ragazzo, Fr. garçon, M.E. knave, O.C.S. otroku -- and often it is difficult to say which meaning came first.) Amer.Eng. expression oh, boy attested from 1917.
orphan: c.1300, from L.L. orphanus "parentless child" (cf. O.Fr. orfeno, It. orfano), from Gk. orphanos "orphaned," lit. "deprived," from orphos "bereft," from PIE *orbho- "bereft of father," also "deprived of free status," from base *orbh- "to change allegiance, to pass from one status to another" (cf. Hittite harb- "change allegiance," L. orbus "bereft," Skt. arbhah "weak, child," Arm. orb "orphan," O.Ir. orbe "heir," O.C.S. rabu "slave," rabota "servitude" (cf. robot), Goth. arbja, Ger. erbe, O.E. ierfa "heir," O.H.G. arabeit, Ger. Arbeit "work," O.Fris. arbed, O.E. earfoð "hardship, suffering, trouble"). The verb is attested from 1814. Orphanage "institute or home for orphans" is first attested 1865.
need (n.): O.E. nied (W.Saxon), ned (Mercian) "necessity, compulsion, duty," originally "violence, force," from P.Gmc. *nauthis (cf. O.N. nauðr, O.Fris. ned, M.Du. nood, Ger. Not, Goth. nauþs "need"), probably cognate with O.Pruss. nautin "need," and perhaps with O.C.S. nazda, Rus. nuzda, Pol. nedza "misery, distress," from PIE *nau- "death, to be exhausted." The more common O.E. word for "need, necessity, want" was ðearf, but they were connected via a notion of "trouble, pain," and the two formed a compound, niedðearf "need, necessity, compulsion, thing needed." Nied also may have been infl. by O.E. neod "desire, longing," which was often spelled the same. Common in O.E. compounds, e.g. niedfaru "compulsory journey," a euphemism for "death;" niedhæmed "rape," the second element being an O.E. word meaning "sexual intercourse;" niedling "slave." Meaning "extreme poverty, destitution" is from c.1200. The verb is O.E. neodian "be necessary," from the noun. Phrase the needful "money" is attested from 1774. The adj. phrase need-to-know is attested from 1954.
pornography: 1857, "description of prostitutes," from Fr. pornographie, from Gk. pornographos "(one) writing of prostitutes," from porne "prostitute," originally "bought, purchased" (with an original notion, probably of "female slave sold for prostitution;" related to pernanai "to sell," from PIE root per- "to traffic in, to sell," cf. L. pretium "price") + graphein "to write." Originally used of classical art and writing; application to modern examples began 1880s. Main modern meaning "salacious writing or pictures" represents a slight shift from the etymology, though classical depictions of prostitution usually had this quality.
"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [hard-core pornography]; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that." [U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, concurring opinion, "Jacobellis v. Ohio," 1964]
Pornographer is earliest form of the word, attested from 1850. Pornocracy (1860) is "the dominating influence of harlots," used specifically of the government of Rome during the first half of the 10th century by Theodora and her daughters.
whore (n.): O.E. hore "prostitute, harlot," from P.Gmc. *khoraz (fem. *khoron-) "one who desires" (cf. O.N. hora "adulteress," Dan. hore, Swed. hora, Du. hoer, O.H.G. huora "whore;" in Goth. only in the masc. hors "adulterer, fornicator," also as a verb, horinon "commit adultery"), from PIE *qar-, a base that has produced words in other languages for "lover" (cf. L. carus "dear;" O.Ir. cara "friend;" O.Pers. kama "desire;" Skt. Kama, name of the Hindu god of love, kamah "love, desire," the first element in Kama Sutra). Whore itself is perhaps a Gmc. euphemism for a word that has not survived. Some equivalent words in other languages also derive from sources not originally pejorative, e.g. perhaps O.Fr. pute, perhaps lit. "girl," fem. of V.L. *puttus (but perhaps rather from L. putidus "stinking;" see poontang). Welsh putain "whore" is from O.Fr., probably via M.E. Cf. also Bohemian nevestka, dim. of nevesta "bride." And Du. deern, Ger. dirne originally "girl, lass, wench." Among other languages, Gk. porne "prostitute" is related to pernemi "sell," with an original notion, probably of a female slave sold for prostitution; L. meretrix is lit. "one who earns wages" (source of Ir. mertrech, O.E. miltestre "whore, prostitute"). The vulgar Roman word was scortum, lit. "skin, hide." Another term was lupa, lit. "she-wolf" (preserved in Sp. loba, It. lupa, Fr. louve; see wolf). And of course there was prostituta, lit, "placed in front," thus "publicly exposed," from the fem. pp. of prostituere (see prostitute). Another O.N. term was skækja, which yielded Dan. skøge, Swed. sköka; probably from M.L.G. schoke, which is perhaps from schode "foreskin of a horse's penis," perhaps with the sense of "skin" (cf. L. scortum) or perhaps via an intermediary sense of "vagina." Sp. ramera, Port. ramiera are from fem. form of ramero "young bird of prey," lit. "little branch," from ramo "branch." Breton gast is cognate with Welsh gast "bitch," of uncertain origin. Cf. also strumpet, harlot. O.C.S. ljubodejica is from ljuby dejati "fornicate," a compound from ljuby "love" + dejati "put, perform." Rus. bljad "whore" derives from O.C.S. bladinica, from bladu "fornication." Pol. nierzadnica is lit. "disorderly woman." Skt. vecya is a derivation of veca- "house, dwelling," especially "house of ill-repute, brothel." Another term, pumccali, means lit. "one who runs after men." Avestan jahika is lit. "woman," but only of evil creatures; another term is kunairi, from pejorative prefix ku- + nairi "woman." The wh- spelling became current 16c. A general term of abuse from at least 13c. Whore of Babylon is from Rev. xvii:1, 5, etc.