noun
slave
slayv
noun
1
A person legally owned by another and forced to work without freedom or pay.
"The museum exhibit traced the journeys of enslaved people brought across the Atlantic."
2
A person completely controlled by or devoted to something.
"He became a slave to his phone, checking it every few minutes."
3
A secondary device controlled by another (master) device.
"The second hard drive is configured as a slave to the primary one."
How to Use Slave
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishHistorically, a person owned and forced to work by another; today also used figuratively for being controlled by a habit, or technically for a subordinate device.
When to use it
The technology sense ("master/slave" devices) is being replaced in many industries with terms like "primary/replica" due to the word's history.
Word Forms
slaved past tense, slaves plural, slaves singular
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Etymology
From Medieval Latin sclavus ("slave"), from Late Latin Sclavus ("Slav") — a grim legacy of Slavic peoples being forced into slavery in the Middle Ages.