Etymology

enslave

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Today it means: To make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall. Full definition →

English slave ← Middle English sclave ← Old French esclave
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Italic*en
  3. Proto-Italic*en-
  4. Latinin-
  5. Old Frenchen-
  6. Middle Englishen-
  7. Englishen-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*ḱlewH-der.?
  9. Proto-Slavic*slov-
  10. Proto-Slavic*Slov-?
  11. Proto-Slavic*slověninъ
  12. Ancient GreekΣκλαβηνός (Sklabēnós)
  13. Medieval GreekΣκλᾰ́βος (Sklắbos)
  14. Late LatinSclavus
  15. Medieval Latinsclavus
  16. Old Frenchesclave
  17. Middle Englishsclave
  18. Englishslave
  19. English todayenslave

From en- + slave.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.