Helot
[hel-uh t, hee-luh t]
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Origin of Helot
1570–80; < Latin hēlōtēs (plural) < Greek heílōtes
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for helot
Contemporary Examples
His cheeks bright red, his chin wet with spittle, the helot would weave and stagger and totter until he passed out in the dirt.
Historical Examples
Still the Helot had in him the common sentiments of our nature.
We have likened the Norman to the Spartan, and, most of all, he was like him in his scorn of the helot.
Harold, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
From the king to the Helot 143, the spirit of covetousness spread like a disease.
Athens: Its Rise and Fall, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
Paragot did not include my seeing him make a Helot of himself as part of my education.
The Belovd VagabondWilliam J. Locke
This is not the middle ages; I am an Englishman, not a helot.
The Weavers, CompleteGilbert Parker
Helot
- (in ancient Greece, esp Sparta) a member of the class of unfree men above slaves owned by the state
- (usually not capital) a serf or slave
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin Hēlotēs, from Greek Heilōtes, alleged to have meant originally: inhabitants of Helos, who, after its conquest, were serfs of the Spartans
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for helot
n.
1570s (with a capital -h-) "Spartan serf," from Greek Heilotes, plural of Heilos, popularly associated with Helos, Laconian town reduced to serfdom by Sparta, but perhaps related to Greek halonai "be captured." In extended use by 1820s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper