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helotry

[hel-uh-tree, hee-luh-]
See more synonyms for helotry on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. serfdom; slavery.
  2. helots collectively.
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Origin of helotry

First recorded in 1820–30; Helot + -ry
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

bondagelaborenslavementservitudecaptivityserfdomsubjugationyokeenthrallmentthralldomrestraintworkthrallgrinddrudgeryindenturedrudgetoilsubjectionpeonage

Examples from the Web for helotry

Historical Examples

  • But, after all, their state is a modern Sparta—an aristocracy resting on a helotry, and with nothing else to rest upon.

    Pictures of Southern Life

    William Howard Russell

  • The State is but a gigantic Sparta, in which the helotry are marked by an indelible difference of color and race from the masters.

    The Civil War in America

    William Howard Russell

  • But, after all, their State is a modern Sparta—an aristocracy resting on a helotry, and with nothing else to rest upon.

    The Civil War in America

    William Howard Russell

British Dictionary definitions for helotry

helotry

noun
  1. serfdom or slavery
  2. serfs or slaves as a class
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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