Helot

[hel-uh t, hee-luh t]

See more synonyms for Helot on Thesaurus.com

noun

a member of the lowest class in ancient Laconia, constituting a body of serfs who were bound to the land and were owned by the state.Compare Perioeci, Spartiate.
(lowercase) a serf or slave; bondman.

Origin of Helot

1570–80; < Latin hēlōtēs (plural) < Greek heílōtes

Related formshel·ot·age, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for helot

serf, liege, slave, dependent, thrall, beneficiary, peasant, subordinate, varlet, tenant, subject, helot, liegeman, bondman, esne

Examples from the Web for helot

Contemporary Examples of helot

His cheeks bright red, his chin wet with spittle, the helot would weave and stagger and totter until he passed out in the dirt.
Persian Fire and Rubicon (Full)
David Frum
September 23, 2012

Historical Examples of helot

Still the Helot had in him the common sentiments of our nature.
Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 3 of 8
Various
We have likened the Norman to the Spartan, and, most of all, he was like him in his scorn of the helot.
Harold, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
From the king to the Helot 143, the spirit of covetousness spread like a disease.
Athens: Its Rise and Fall, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Paragot did not include my seeing him make a Helot of himself as part of my education.
The Belovd Vagabond
William J. Locke
This is not the middle ages; I am an Englishman, not a helot.
The Weavers, Complete
Gilbert Parker

British Dictionary definitions for helot

Helot

noun

(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

Word Origin for Helot

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for helot

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.