helotism

[ hel-uh-tiz-uhm, hee-luh- ]

noun

the state or quality of being a helot; serfdom.
Ecology. the subordinate organisms in an unequal symbiotic relationship.

Origin of helotism

First recorded in 1815–25; Helot + -ism

Words Nearby helotism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use helotism in a sentence

A sad helotism, in which religion springs from the soil, instead of descending from heaven!
History of the Great Reformation, Volume IV | J. H. Merle D'Aubign
No sign of the times more plainly discovered the helotism to which the Restoration had condemned the young manhood of the epoch.
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris | Honore de Balzac
Drunken helotism is not the only form of erring humanity capable of reading lessons to a republic.
History of the United Netherlands, 1600-09, Vol. IV. Complete | John Lothrop Motley
Such of the Messenians as had not abandoned their country were reduced to helotism.
Athens: Its Rise and Fall, Complete | Edward Bulwer-Lytton

British Dictionary definitions for helotism

helotism

/ (ˈhɛləˌtɪzəm, ˈhiː-) /

noun

the condition or quality of being a Helot
a sociopolitical system in which a class, minority, nation, etc, is held in a state of subjection

zoology another name for dulosis

Also called (for senses 1, 2): helotage

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

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