First recorded in 1800–10; slave + -y 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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When Falconer arrived in England Judy was whisked off to a farm in the country, where she was made the slavey of an ill-natured old nurse who treated her like a moral leper.
From Time Magazine Archive
To each other, the young man and the slavey become as beautiful as makeup artists can manage.
From Time Magazine Archive
Actress Julie Haydon plays radiantly as the simple-hearted slavey, makes the Canon's conversion entirely credible.
From Time Magazine Archive
She starts as a slavey, advances via an inheritance to the lordly Maxwell Towers, marries the glistening young Earl.
From Time Magazine Archive
Well, don’t blame me if you find yourself still a slavey five years hence.”
From The Early Life and Adventures of Sylvia Scarlett by MacKenzie, Compton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
