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Entry: 1slave Etymology: Middle English sclave "slave," from
early French esclave (same meaning), derived from Latin Sclavus
"Slav" 1: a person who is owned by another person and can be
sold at the owner's will 2: a person who has lost self-control
and is controlled by something or someone else <a slave to bad
habits> 3: a person who performs difficult or boring work :
DRUDGE - slaveadjective Word History In the Middle Ages,
Germanic people fought and raided other peoples, especially the
Slavic peoples to the east. They took a great many captives
there and sold them as slaves throughout Europe. The Slavic
people were so common as slaves that writers of the time used
the Latin word for "Slav," Sclavus, to mean "a personal slave."
The Latin word became sclave in Middle English and then slave in
Modern English. Of course slavery and slaves had existed long
before the Middle Ages. The ancient Romans used the Latin word
servus for "slave." This Latin