different between slave vs inferior

English

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French sclave, from Medieval Latin scl?vus (“slave”), from Late Latin Scl?vus (“Slav”), because Slavs were often forced into slavery in the Middle Ages. The Latin word is from Byzantine Greek ??????? (Sklábos), see that entry and Slav for more.

Pronunciation

• enPR: sl?v, IPA^(key): /sle?v/
• Rhymes: -e?v

Noun

slave (plural slaves)

1. A person who is held in servitude as the property of another person, and whose labor (and often also whose body and life) is subject to the owner's volition and control.
2. (figuratively) A drudge; one who labors or is obliged (e.g. by prior contract) to labor like a slave with limited rights, e.g. an indentured servant.
3. (figuratively) An abject person.

   Synonym: wretch
4. (figuratively) One who has no power of resistance (to something), one who surrenders to or is under the domination (of something).
5. (BDSM) A submissive partner in a BDSM relationship who (consensually) submits to (sexually and/or personally) serving one or more masters or mistresses.

   Hypernym: sub
6. A sex slave, a person who is forced against their will to perform, for another person or group, sexual acts on a regular or continuing basis.
7. (engineering, computing, photography) A device (such as a secondary flash or hard drive) that is subject to the control of another (a master).

   Synonyms: secondary, worker

   Antonyms: master, primary

Usage notes

• In the technical sense increasingly replaced with less-charged terms such as secondary, worker etc.

Alternative forms

Hyponyms

• bossale, bozal

Coordinate terms

• chattel
• indentured servant

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• slave (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• slavery on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• master/slave (technology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Verb

slave (third-person singular simple present slaves, present participle slaving, simple past and past participle slaved)

1. To work as a slaver, to enslave people.
   • 1606, John Marston, The Wonder of Women

     MASSINISSA: Wilt thou be slaved?
     SOPHONISBA: No, free

   • 1908, James Wells, Stewart of Lovedale: The Life of James Stewart, D.D., M.D., Hon. F.R.G.S., page 88:

     The truth is from the Zambesi to Lake Nyasa on the north and east banks of the river, there is nothing but slaving — Africans selling each other . . .

   • 2011, David Eltis, Keith Bradley, Paul Cartledge, The Cambridge World History of Slavery: Volume 3, AD 1420-AD 1804, Cambridge University Press (?ISBN), page 128:

     Despite these examples, the majority of enslaved Africans were not able to rely on rulers for help against slaving. Africans living in chiefdoms and villages ruled by allied African authorities were, however, able to use the legal system (Tribunal of Mukanos) in place in the regions under formal Portuguese control […]

   • 2016, Thomas Arcaro, et al. Understanding the Global Experience: Becoming a Responsible World Citizen, Routledge (?ISBN):

     With ready access to firearms through trade, the slaving Africans held a distinct upper-hand over the groups they preyed upon, which were often politically and socially weakened or destroyed by the trade.

   • 2016, Alistair Paterson, A Millennium of Cultural Contact, Routledge (?ISBN), page 117:

     Significant impacts resulted from slaving; there is evidence of how communities dealt with the threat and benefits of slaving. Africans provided most of the slaves to European slavers. Most slaves were created either to settle debts or raise funds, through warfare, or as punishment for a real or perceived crime.

2. (intransitive) To work hard.

3. (transitive) To place a device under the control of another.
   • 2005, Simon Millward, Fast Guide to Cubase SX (page 403)

     Slaving one digital audio device to another unit using timecode alone results in time-based synchronisation […]

Translations

References

Anagrams

• 'alves, Alves, Elvas, Levas, Selva, Veals, avels, evals, laves, salve, selva, vales, valse, veals

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from German Sklave, from Latin scl?vus, whence also slaver.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -a?v?

Noun

slave c (singular definite slaven, plural indefinite slaver)

1. slave

   Synonym: træl

Inflection

Derived terms

• slaveri

Verb

slave (imperative slav, infinitive at slave, present tense slaver, past tense slavede, perfect tense har slavet)

1. slave

   Synonym: trælle

Esperanto

Etymology

From slavo +? -e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?slave/
• Hyphenation: sla?ve
• Rhymes: -ave

Adverb

slave

1. In a Slavic language; Slavically

French

Etymology

From Middle French Sclave, from Medieval Latin Scl?vus, from Byzantine Greek ??????? (Sklábos), which see for more. Doublet of esclave.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /slav/

Adjective

slave (plural slaves)

1. Slav, Slavic

Derived terms

Related terms

Noun

slave m (uncountable)

1. A Slavic language.

References

• “slave” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Further reading

• “slave” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• laves, lavés, levas, salve, valse, valsé

Italian

Adjective

slave

1. feminine plural of slavo

Noun

slave f

1. plural of slava

Anagrams

• salve, selva, svela, valse

Latvian

Noun

slave f (5th declension)

1. (dialectal) fame, glory; alternative form of slava

Declension

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

slave m (definite singular slaven, indefinite plural slaver, definite plural slavene)

1. slave

Derived terms

Related terms

• slaveri

References

• “slave” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

slave m (definite singular slaven, indefinite plural slavar, definite plural slavane)

1. slave

Derived terms

Related terms

• slaveri

References

• “slave” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

English

Alternative forms

• inferiour (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ?nferior (“lower in situation or place”), comparative of ?nferus (“below, underneath”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ?nfîr??r
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?n?f??.?i.?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?n?f??.i.?/
• Rhymes: -???i?(?)

Adjective

inferior (comparative more inferior, superlative most inferior)

1. Lower in rank, status, or quality.
   1. Of low rank, standard or quality.

   2. (law) (of a court or tribunal) Susceptible to having its decisions overturned by a higher court.
   3. (economics) Denoting goods or services which are in greater demand during a recession than in a boom, for example second-hand clothes.
2. Located below:
   1. (anatomy) Situated below another and especially another similar superior part of an upright body.
   2. (zoology) Situated in a relatively low posterior or ventral position in a quadrupedal body.
   3. (botany) Situated below some other organ; said of a calyx when free from the ovary, and therefore below it, or of an ovary with an adherent and therefore inferior calyx.
   4. (botany) On the side of a flower which is next to the bract.

      Synonym: anterior

   5. (typography) Printed in subscript.

   6. (astronomy) Below the horizon.

3. (astronomy) Nearer to the Sun than the Earth is.

Usage notes

Inferior and superior are generally followed by to; than is seen sometimes, but is viewed as wrong.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:bad

Antonyms

• superior

Coordinate terms

• (dentistry location adjectives) anterior,? apical,? apicocoronal,? axial,? buccal,? buccoapical,? buccocervical,? buccogingival,? buccolabial,? buccolingual,? bucco-occlusal,? buccopalatal,? cervical,? coronal,? coronoapical,? distal,? distoapical,? distobuccal,? distocervical,? distocoronal,? distofacial,? distogingival,? distoincisal,? distolingual,? disto-occlusal,? distoclusal,? distocclusal,? distopalatal,? facial,? gingival,? incisal,? incisocervical,? inferior,? labial,? lingual,? linguobuccal,? linguo-occlusal,? mandibular,? maxillary,? mesial,? mesioapical,? mesiobuccal,? mesiocervical,? mesiocoronal,? mesiodistal,? mesiofacial,? mesioincisal,? mesiogingival,? mesiolingual,? mesio-occlusal,? mesioclusal,? mesiocclusal,? mesiopalatal,? occlusal,? palatal,? posterior,? proximal,? superior,? vestibular ^{(Category: en:Dentistry) [edit]}

Derived terms

Related terms

• Armenia Inferior
• limit inferior

Translations

Noun

inferior (plural inferiors)

1. A person of lower rank, stature, or ability to another.

   Antonym: superior

2. (printing) An inferior letter, figure, or symbol.

Translations

References

• “inferior”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• “inferior”, in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary, (Please provide a date or year).
• inferior in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• inferior at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• fire iron, fireiron

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin ?nferior.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /im.f?.?i?o/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /im.fe.?i?o?/

Adjective

inferior (masculine and feminine plural inferiors)

1. inferior
2. lower

Related terms

• inferioritat

Further reading

• “inferior” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “inferior” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “inferior” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “inferior” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ?nferior (“lower, inferior”), the comparative of ?nferus (“low, nether, underground”).

Adjective

inferior (not comparable)

1. subordinate, secondary
2. (of people) inferior

3. substandard, bad

Declension

Further reading

• “inferior” in Duden online

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /in?fe.ri.or/, [???f??i?r]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /in?fe.ri.or/, [in?f???i?r]

Adjective

?nferior (neuter ?nferius, positive ?nferus); third declension

1. comparative degree of ?nferus, lower in situation or place:
   1. Subsequent, later, latter in time or succession.
   2. Inferior in quality, rank, or number.

Inflection

Third-declension comparative adjective.

Related terms

• infimus (superlative)

Descendants

References

• inferior in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• inferior in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• inferior in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book?^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin ?nferior.

Pronunciation

Adjective

inferior m (feminine singular inferiora, masculine plural inferiors, feminine plural inferioras)

1. inferior
2. lower

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin inferior.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /?.f???jo?/
• Hyphenation: in?fe?ri?or

Adjective

inferior m or f (plural inferiores, comparable)

1. inferior

   Antonym: superior

Romanian

Etymology

From French inférieur, from Latin inferior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?in.fe.ri?or/

Adjective

inferior m or n (feminine singular inferioar?, masculine plural inferiori, feminine and neuter plural inferioare)

1. inferior

Declension

Antonyms

• superior

Related terms

• inferioritate

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin inferior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /infe??jo?/, [??.fe??jo?]
• Hyphenation: in?fe?rior

Adjective

inferior (plural inferiores)

1. inferior (of lower quality)
2. inferior (of lower rank)
3. inferior (below)

Antonyms

• superior

Derived terms

Related terms

• inferioridad

Further reading

• “inferior” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.