Meanings
nounhuman chattel (uncountable)
- uncountableHuman beings considered property, that is, slaves.
Where is the man of intelligence who does not instantly see that this provision of human law […] makes the relation, between father and mother, that of mere agents for increasing the gains of him who claims a right of property in the human chattel, whose offspring, by law, are his?
1863, Harper Twelvetrees, preface to The Story of the Life of John Anderson, the Fugitive Slave, William Tweedie (publisher), page ix
Cite this entry
APA
human chattel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/human%20chattel
MLA
“human chattel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/human%20chattel. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “human chattel,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/human%20chattel.
Source: human chattel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.