menial en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- mē'nēəl
- /ˈmiːni.əl/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From Middle English meyneal, from Anglo-Norman mesnal, from maisnee (“household”), from Vulgar Latin *mānsiōnāta, from Latin mānsiō (“house”).
Meanings
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Of or relating to work normally performed by a servant.
She hung round him, watching his every look as if she grudged the veriest menial offices from the servants; and she almost scolded him for not eating, when he had done justice enough to the good things set before him to have satisfied even the cook herself.
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Arrived at Home”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 85:She was not proposing to go out again, so he got her slippers and took off her boots. It delighted him to perform menial offices.
1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter LXX, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC:
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Of or relating to unskilled work.
For instance, controlling for the above-mentioned variables, migrants to Tangerang or Samarinda (rather than Medan) have a significantly greater chance of getting a craft (as opposed to menial) job.
2011, Chris Manning, Sudarno Sumarto, Employment, Living Standards and Poverty in Contemporary Indonesia, →ISBN:Father Brown took the paper without a word, and obediently went to look for the coat; it was not the first menial work he had done in his life.
1910 October 1, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, “The Queer Feet”, in The Innocence of Father Brown, London; New York, N.Y.: Cassell and Company, published 1911, →OCLC:I didn't see how sweeping and scrubbing a building was any preparation for the trade of electrician; but I did know that in the books all the boys started with the most menial tasks and by making good ultimately won to the ownership of the whole concern.
1913 August, Jack London, John Barleycorn, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC:menial job
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Servile; low; mean.
a menial wretch
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most menial | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more menial | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Deriveds
unmenial · nonmenial · menially · menialism · meniality · menialize
Translations (36)
pt servil (of or relating to unskilled work) · fr subalterne (of or relating to unskilled work) · ru лакейский (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · pt humilde (of or relating to unskilled work) · sh lakajski (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · mi porotieke (of or relating to unskilled work) · bg непохватен (of or relating to unskilled work) · sh služinski (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · nb nedrig (of or relating to unskilled work) · bg слугински (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · ja 下賎な (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · ca labor (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · pt de baixa qualificação (of or relating to unskilled work) · fi avustava (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · mi poroteke (of or relating to unskilled work) · fr ancillaire (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · ja 単純労働の (of or relating to unskilled work) · de untergeordnet (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · ja 賎しい (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · nb ufaglært (of or relating to unskilled work) · nb lavstatuspreget (of or relating to unskilled work) · sv underlydande (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · bg лакейски (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · cmn 低微的 (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · cmn 卑微的 (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · es de poca importancia (of or relating to unskilled work) · de nieder (of or relating to unskilled work) · fi yksinkertainen (of or relating to unskilled work) · gl labor (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · de niedrig (of or relating to unskilled work) · es de baja categoría (of or relating to unskilled work) · sh lakejski (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · pt servil (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · pt subalterno (of or relating to unskilled work) · it servile (of or relating to work normally performed by a servant) · ar وَضِيع (of or relating to unskilled work)