slavey

[ sley-vee ]

noun,plural slav·eys.British Informal: Older Use.
  1. a female servant, especially a maid of all work in a boardinghouse.

Origin of slavey

1
First recorded in 1800–10; slave + -y2

Words Nearby slavey

Other definitions for Slavey (2 of 2)

Slavey
[ sley-vee ]

noun,plural Slav·eys, (especially collectively) Slav·ey.
  1. a member of a group of Athabascan-speaking First Nations living in the upper Mackenzie River valley region of the Northwest Territories and in parts of British Columbia, Alberta, and the Yukon Territory.

Origin of Slavey

2
First recorded in 1785–80; from French esclave, literally, “slave,” a loan translation of Cree awahkān “captive, slave” (the Cree would make raids on and enslave this Athabascan people); the two-syllable pronunciation is a local variant derived from a spelling with the French suffix -ais
  • Also called Slave [sleyv] /sleɪv/ .

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use slavey in a sentence

  • A bucolic slavey—a person whose cheerful simpleness is like to that of the little creatures of the field—attends you.

    Turns about Town | Robert Cortes Holliday
  • She is a young lady typical of the Cockney slavey type, dressed according to the ideas of her class as regards the perfect lady.

    The Master of Mrs. Chilvers | Jerome K. Jerome
  • I hated the dismal little 'slavey' who, twice a week, on an average, would bring him up to me.

    My First Book: | Various
  • "My hye," exclaimed the slavey, who adored Herr Kreutzer and intensely worshiped Anna.

    The Old Flute-Player | Edward Marshall and Charles T. Dazey
  • "No fault o' 'is, then," said the slavey quickly, voicing her earnest partisanship without a moment's wait.

    The Old Flute-Player | Edward Marshall and Charles T. Dazey

British Dictionary definitions for slavey (1 of 2)

slavey

/ (ˈsleɪvɪ) /


noun
  1. British informal a female general servant

Origin of slavey

1
C19: from slave + -y ²

British Dictionary definitions for Slavey (2 of 2)

Slavey

/ (ˈsleɪvɪ) /


noun
  1. a member of a Dene Native Canadian people of northern Canada

Origin of Slavey

2
from Athapascan

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012