Dictionary

slavey en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈsleɪvi/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree 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.

Meanings

1. (colloquial, historical) A male servant.
2. (colloquial, historical) A female domestic servant; a maid or maidservant.
   • I told a man on the links yesterday that I'd been a slavey for nine months. I was trying to explain why I was a suffragette […] 1924, Ford Madox Ford, Some Do Not… (Parade's End), Penguin, published 2012, page 81:
   • "The short-haired slavey who had opened the door now put in an appearance as waiter." 1887, Nellie Bly, Ten Days in a Mad-House, Norman L. Munro, published 1887, page 12:
   • "Doing? Not a Dam' thing. I mean, I was sitting on the bed lighting a cigarette. We'd just come upstairs. Everything was all right; old Peabody in Sydney and the slavey given a night off to go to the pictures." 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 82:

Forms